The World Turned Upside Down
by DuchessKenobi
Summary: an alternate sequel to my story the Ashla Spectrum. after the Siege of Mandalore, Soniee goes to Alderaan and runs into some rebellious old friends. with a generous spattering of Hamilton references she learns about her past and how she can fight for the future.
1. world turned upside down

i was planning on writing something completely different for my NaNoWriMo project this year but after listening to the Hamilton soundtrack a few too many times (how many is too many?) this is what popped into my head.  
It goes something like this:  
Lux = aLUXander  
Saw = Burr  
Soniee = Eliza maybe? though she's actually the orphaned immigrant in the eye of the hurricane  
Riyo = and Peggy  
Cham Syndula = the Galaxy's favorite fighting Twi'lek  
it's not a perfect 1 to 1 analogy but the Emperor will send a full armed battalion to remind you of his love.

* * *

Soniee stumbled down the ramp and fell to her knees on the landing platform. She felt like she had been running for hours. Running away. Running away from that plazza in Sundari, one of the few that wasn't already in flames.

_One minute she was fighting and then she felt him, Maul, not far away. Through the smoke and flames she saw him approach Ahsoka. _

_It had been part of the plan and Ahsoka was following it to the letter. Soniee couldn't hear their banter but she could see the way the former Jedi padawan was leading the Sith to exactly the right position. Soon this would all be over. _

_"Now!" Ahsoka commanded and Soniee watched in utter rapture as the ray shield came to life trapping their enemy. _

_Soniee actually cried out in victory as Ahsoka's company of clones broke cover to join her around the captive. They would take him away to the Citadel or someplace to answer for his crimes against the Republic and the Jedi and Mandalore. _

_She began looking for a way to get around the wreckage and join them in this moment of triumph, before all Haran broke loose. Suddenly and seeming without cause the clones, the same clones who had Ahsoka's orange and white markings painted on their helmets, turned as one and pointed their weapons at their General. _

_Soniee couldn't be sure but she thought she sensed something pass between Ahsoka and Captain Rex who was among the other soldiers. It was almost as if Ahsoka was giving him permission. And then they opened fire and she fell. _

_Something wasn't right, but nothing about this was right. Clones didn't suddenly turn on their Jedi officers. It made no sense. _

_Rex dropped to his knees to check for life signs and then the rest of the clones about faced in search of more victims. Soniee knew this because one of them had her in his sights almost immediately. She ran and she didn't look back. _

She felt like she had been running, the adrenaline coursing through her, though really she'd been in silence of hyperspace for the last couple of hours. It was a silence that pressed on her eardrums. All she could hear were her own sobs.

She had first thought of flying to Onderon. It was where her birth family was from. If everyone was right and she really did resemble the natives there it might be a perfect place to lie low. Just as she was about to enter the coordinance however she changed her mind. She entered a different set of digits into the nav computer maybe it was the Force that was prompting her.

Maybe she would find out why now that she was here… on Alderaan.

"Soniee?" The voice was familiar but out of place somehow. She definitely hadn't expected to find him here as she looked up to see Lux Bonteri rushing toward her from a ship of his own that must have also just landed.

"It is you!" he dropped down beside her taking in her battle worn appearance and tear and soot stained face. "After Concord Dawn we didn't…"

His excited words and worried features faded as everything went black.

…

When she began to gradually come back to wakefulness, she was more comfortable than she remembered being in a long time. Maybe it had all been an awful dream. She was back on Coruscant in Padme's apartment, in the guest room, between synth-silk sheets.

But something on the back of her hand itched, and she opened her eyes to see an IV line had been inserted to give her fluids or meds or something.

She struggled to sit up and stare around at her surroundings trying to remember how she had gotten here, wherever here was. It didn't appear to be a medical center but some sort of personal residence, a very nice personal residence! There was a large window letting in what seemed to be a setting sun or maybe it was rising behind a ridge of mountains in the distance.

This wasn't Coruscant and it wasn't Mandalore. Just then a medical worker in a spotless white uniform entered the room smiling.

"Well look who's awake," the woman smiled at her before checking the flimzyplast bag of fluid and then taking Soniee's wrist presumably to check her pulse. Seeming pleased with the results she shut off the drip. "I think we can be finished with that now and if you like, I can get you something to drink? You were dehydrated when the young man brought you in but now that you're alert I can get you something carbonated or a gelatin cup?"

"Where am I?" Soniee croaked. They may have been pumping her with fluids but her throat still felt dry.

"Do you not remember? You're in Queen and Senator Organa's home, my dear." She looked for signs of recognition while she went on. "I was employed to do a check-up on the new baby and it was a good thing I was here when you arrived."

Soniee's brow creased, "New baby?" The part about the Organas made sense to her. She did vaguely remember that she had laid in a course for Alderaan but everything else was still a jumble.

"Do you remember… who _you _are, dear?" the nurse asked worriedly.

"I'm… Soniee… from Mandalore." Again she frowned but the nurse appeared to be reassured. "There was a battle in Sundari and I thought we won but somehow… we didn't and then I…"

"You passed out shortly after your arrival and the young man carried you to the palace," the nurse filled in the missing information. "You just rest now. I'm going to get you that carbonated drink and maybe some broth? Don't want to try anything too adventurous until we're sure how that will sit on your stomach."

"Thank you," Soniee called after her as the woman got up and left the room. She leaned back against the pillows and tried to think. She had run away from the battle and she had made it here to Alderaan. Maybe the Force was leading her.

She thought again about the _young man _the nurse had mentioned and had a vague memory of… Lux Bonteri. But why would he be here on Alderaan and what was this about a new baby?

…

When the nurse returned she removed the IV and placed a straw in the cup of liquid for Soniee to drink. After waiting a few minutes to see how that went down and also allowing the patient to try a cracker or two and a piece of fruit, she pronounced that Soniee should probably just take it easy for a while. She had made it through the siege unharmed, miraculously, although Bo had stationed her where she would be least in harm's way so that she could use her battle meditation techniques without being in danger of the worst part of the fighting.

None of them had expected for the clones to turn on them at the moment of their victory…

Before she was fully discharged, the nurse made sure Soniee was capable of walking to the fresher on her own. With that hurdle overcome Soniee asked if she might be able to go and see her host and thank him for providing for her care. She was shown where some of her luggage had been brought in from her ship and changed into a simple tunic and pants and then she followed the directions she was given to Bail Organa's office.

He rose from the seat behind his desk when she knocked on the frame of the open door. "Representative Ordo, it's good to see you up and about."

"Please," She stepped a little further into the office. "It's Soniee and thank you. I really didn't mean to land so dramatically on your doorstep."

"It was the least we could do, Soniee." He nodded regally. "It looked like you had been through quite an ordeal." His tone was curious but she could also sense that he was gauging exactly how much she knew.

She felt in that moment completely certain that she could trust him. With a slightly broken sigh she told the senator, "There was a battle in Sundari. I just barely got away."

"From the Separatists?" He asked but he seemed to know that wasn't the case.

"No," Soniee shook her head. "F-from the clones who had been fighting alongside us."

"They turned on you?" it wasn't really a question.

"After we thought the battle was won, it happened so fast. I saw them fire on Ahsoka and then she…" Soniee looked back over her shoulder to where the senator's gaze had drifted.

There in the doorway was Lux. He was here. He had been the one to carry her to the palace from the space dock. But in a moment his countenance that had been thrilled to see her up, fell to disparaging at the words she had just spoken. "Ahsoka is…?" He ran off down the hallway.

"Lux!" She wanted to run after him but Bail had come around his desk and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"A lot has happened in the last twenty-four standard hours, Soniee. I think it best if I try to explain."

"But I don't know if… I mean I saw her fall but something wasn't right. The color of the blast. It happened so fast but I don't think they were all shooting to kill and…"

"Soniee," Bail gently led her to one of the guest chairs and silently encouraged her to sit. "What you witnessed was not an isolated incident. All over the galaxy clone troopers turned on their Jedi generals and…" he didn't have to finish.

She choked on a sob. "But why?"

"We were informed after the fact by the Chancellor that the Jedi had turned against the Republic, that the clones acted to save us all from their treachery." Again he seemed to be watching her closely for her reaction to this news. Not just in worry that she would be upset but maybe to see where her loyalties lay.

If she had been more calm she might have better guarded her response as it was the words just poured out of her. "Surely you can't believe that! You were their friend, Master Obi-wan and Skywalker and, and Ahsoka. Surely you don't think that they had become our enemies?"

He sighed and a pained expression spread over his features. "No. No, I don't, but there are those who have been persuaded that the…" He chewed the word bitterly "extinction of the Jedi Order was long overdue."

She knew this. She had listened to Barriss Offee's speech at Ahsoka's trial and her own fellow Mandalorians had harbored suspicion of the Jedi for generations. "Then they're all gone?" She was afraid to reach out into the Force and find out if there were any of the comforting presences she had always known.

"Not all of them, I think." He told her and there was something behind the words that made her believe he knew more than what he was saying. "You said yourself that when you saw Ahsoka… fall that all of her men may not have been aiming to kill?"

Soniee frowned. No, thinking back on it now, surely she would have felt Ahsoka's presence leave the living Force. She had been so tuned into the young Jedi's signature in her meditation to try to direct the outcome of the battle.

She could feel it now, the lack of light from the loss of so many beings! Maybe she had just thought it was the silence of hyperspace during her travel and then her unconsciousness.

But she was sure something had passed between Ahsoka and Captain Rex a moment before she fell and the color of the blast. Was it possible that he stunned her before his brothers could get in a more deadly shot?

Soniee nodded at the Senator not sure how to put her ideas into words just yet. "We can't lose hope."

"That is exactly my feeling." He gave her shoulder an almost fatherly squeeze, if she could guess what such a thing might feel like since she had never had a father that she could remember.

"But that's not all, is it?" She led. "It wasn't just the Jedi turning on the Republic and the Clones…"

"No," he must have judged that she was well enough to accept the truth. "The war is over. There are still skirmishes I'm sure that will need to be concluded but the Separatist forces over all have been defeated."

That sounded awfully convenient, for an entire droid army to just be brought to a screeching halt at the same time that the Jedi were exterminated?

"General Grievous was defeated and with him all of his forces were deactivated." Bail didn't look any more convinced by this news than she felt even though he was the one relating it to her. "And," he added in a more reserved tone. "The Republic has been reformed as the first Galactic Empire."

Soniee was sure now she must be dreaming. It simply wasn't possible that so much had changed in the past few... hours? She couldn't have been out of it that long.

Suddenly she wanted very much to talk to Padme. The woman had been her mentor when she arrived in Coruscant to serve as representative to the senate. She had always been so calm and level headed. If Soniee could talk to Padme she could be sure that the Galaxy hadn't been completely turned upside down.

"Can I borrow your comm?" she asked. "There's someone I'd like to… reach out to."

"Of course." He said without delay. "May I ask who?"

She smiled. The two senators were friends after all. He probably had her on speed dial. "Padme Amidala. She was so good to me. I would just take comfort in hearing how she was dealing with all this."

He was silent and she stared at him with apprehension.

Then he spoke haltingly. "Senator Amidala was… killed in the final events of the war."

"No!" Soniee covered her mouth with her hands as if she might scream. She mastered herself. "How? When? Do you know this for sure?"

"I saw her body being prepared to return to Naboo for burial."

Soniee tried to turn her mind to logistics as she would to the schematics of an electronic device so she wouldn't give in to hysterics. "Will you be… traveling there for the funeral?" Perhaps she could ride along and pay her respects as well.

"No," he said matter of factly. "My wife and I have reason to stay here on Alderaan."

She looked at him curiously now because of his sudden change in tone.

He smiled. "We have been blessed, most unexpectedly, with a child. A baby girl who was left a war orphan, needed our care and we will be officially adopting her as our own. If I'm not mistaken your own history is of a similar nature?"

"Yes." After all the tales of woe it was a joy to hear the news. "Congratulations!" So that was the new baby who the nurse had spoken of.

"That's actually the reason Breha and I invited Senator Bonteri to our home. His family has ties to the Onderonian throne and he is here on behalf of the king to attend our daughter's name day festivities when we officially adopt her into our family."

"Oh Senator Organa, that's wonderful!" and she really meant it. The idea of this couple taking in an orphan child the way she was taken in by Ordo'buir lifted her spirits like nothing else could have in this dark time.

"And we will of course be extending that invitation to you as well," he added.

That she couldn't quite believe, "Well, I- I'm not…"

"Nonsense. You are a Representative of the planet Mandalore and we are glad to have you. And," he said more softly. "Perhaps an invitation will give the appearance of a more official reason for your flight?"

She hadn't thought of that but people would be wondering why she had suddenly shown up on Alderaan with no warning. It was the perfect cover story. "Yes, Senator, and thank you."

"Please, call me Bail."


	2. Rewind

All that has happened has got Soniee thinking about the past and the first time she ever heard the name Lux Bonteri. This is the first of two flashback chapters that take place just a few weeks before the first chapter of the Ashla Spectrum, around the middle of season 4 of the Clone Wars, when the cadets are still safely oblivious in their Royal Academy of Government.

* * *

"Anybody know when they're gonna let us go? I'm starved." Amis leaned back on two legs of his chair.

"When are you not?" Lagos slipped her foot under the seat and gave it a nudge that was just enough for him to lose his careful balance and throw out his arms to his desk before he went crashing back.

Korkie laughed and looked to Soniee who sat at the desk beside him. She hadn't even cracked a smile with her visor pulled down over her eyes. He wished she didn't. She had pretty eyes. Of course he hadn't worked up the courage to tell her that yet.

He knew she was trying to de-stress from the project they had just finished. But now the presentations were over and the grades awarded. They just had to wait on whoever this special guest was who they were supposed to hear from before they left the classroom.

Suddenly Soniee sat up a little straighter and raised the visor. Maybe she had just finished listening to a song or watching a holo or maybe she knew what he was thinking. Sometimes it really did seem like she could read his thoughts. "I wonder who the special guest is supposed to be," she spoke aloud what all of them had been thinking.

Amis shrugged.

"Maybe it's someone offering an all expenses paid excursion to a fantastic vacation destination for the teams who got the highest grades on the project," Lagos suggested with a lavish wave of her hand.

"I'm just glad it's over." Soniee sighed.

"You can talk," Amis scoffed. "you got the best grade in the class!"

She blushed and looked as if she might like to just lower the visor and hide behind it once again.

"He's right." Korkie leaned close to her and said more softly. "I couldn't have done it without you."

She hadn't taken the easy route on the semester long project that she and Korkie had been paired up to complete. She had in fact chosen one of the most involved topics for them to cover but she had known she could find the information they needed and she knew that Korkie could present it better than anyone else in the class.

The assignment had been fairly straight forward. The partnered students were to choose from a list of planetary systems and act as if they were advising the beings in the government of that system. The mission was to take into consideration the location, population, proximity to trade routes, resources and other statistics and then convince the planetary leader whether they should remain a part of (or join if they had not been previously affiliated with) the Republic, or to secede and form an alliance with the Confederation of Independent Systems.

Obviously the cadets, who had been carefully instructed for years to see the more peaceful tract of remaining neutral, would normally steer those seeking their advice toward this option. However for the sake of argument and the assignment they had to choose a side that would best benefit their representative system.

The systems that were on the list for the cadets to select for the project were each given a point designation from the start. Those that were closer to the core or had been with the Republic longer or were just easier to find information about were given a lower point value because it was thought that those variables would make the research easier to come by. Planets that had a spoken language other than Basic or no spoken language at all, those further out in the outer rim and wild space territories or just those who tended to keep their business to themselves had a higher point value.

It was Korkie who suggested to Soniee that they be partners. She was brilliant at research which only occasionally veered into the territory of what might be considered illegal hacking. Korkie on the other hand was a masterful speaker. He could hold a crowd in his thrall for hours. Not that they would need hours hopefully to present their case. There was a time limit given to the cadets in which to lay out all the information they had gathered.

It was Soniee who suggested that they choose the planetary system that came with the highest point value. Neither Korkie or Soniee had ever heard of the planet Lasan. It would give them an edge if they could pull it off. Korkie was sure that Soniee could find the statistics they needed and then he would just have to use that data to persuade his professors onto which side of the conflict would be the best for the Lasat people to join.

They weren't being graded on which side they ended up advising their subjects to choose only on how well they had considered all of the factors and their persuasiveness in delivering the findings.

Lagos and Amis who had also paired up for the project had chosen what might be considered a much safer planet as far as background information went. Everyone had heard of Naboo especially with how much it had been in the news in the last decade. And there was the little fact that it was the home planet of the Chancellor of the Republic.

But then Lagos could argue her way out of anything. She focused on a different tactic and made it her goal to convince her professors, and the queen she was supposedly advising, that it would be best for the human population and the Gungans, for their planet, their system and indeed the entire Galaxy to leave the Republic altogether and take up the cause of the Confederation of Independent Systems. With Amis's creative embellishments to her debate strategy, they blew the whole class away.

For Soniee and Korkie the semester was spent with late nights of pouring over holomaps and data columns and even more personal stories of the culture and religion of the people. When considering the options they decided that the conscience of the population, their system of beliefs also played a pivotal role.

In the end it was Korkie's pathos and his succinct manner of stating facts while appealing to the philanthropy of their judges that put the pair just over the point value attained by their best friends.

He could have kissed Soniee right then and there when their grades were announced. Korkie thought maybe just maybe all those long hours working together might have evolved them to a level that was more than just friends. But of course they were in the midst of all of their fellow cadets and professors and she just looked so relieved to be done with it before she hid behind that blasted holo visor again.

Before she could lower the thing again and cover her beautiful green eyes he tried to think of something, anything to say. Why was it he could address a crowd without the slightest hesitation but trying to speak his mind to this girl left him tongue tied?

Almost in a panic he blurted out, "will you be going home for the holiday?"

At least she dropped her hand from the visor to answer him. "No, Ordo'buir thinks my flying all the way to Concord Dawn would be too much of a risk."

They had discussed her Momma a couple of times while they were working so closely. Even though they were not related by blood Soniee's adoptive mother was fiercely protective.

"She might try to fly to Manda'yaim for a couple of days to see me though." Soniee half smiled. "We might go to Keldabe and see the air and space exhibit."

Korkie smiled too. "But you'll be staying here in the academy dorm? So will I. Auntie Satine said I could fly back to Kalevala if I wanted to but there wasn't really any reason for me to make the trip."

"And you wanted to stay close to Soniee and keep her company," Lagos teased in a sing song voice.

Before he could repudiate the statement there was a commotion at the front of the classroom and the professor signaled the cadets to silence. Korkie was pleased to see that the guest they had been awaiting was in fact none other than, his Aunt, the duchess Satine Kryze of Mandalore. He passed a conspiritory smile to Lagos and Amis and Soniee because they were all personally acquainted with the duchess after helping to rescue her from a plot hatched by their nefarious prime minister last year. All of the cadets however knew the proper way to greet their monarch and stood to their feet at attention in the aisles beside their desks.

The duchess waved them elegantly back into their seats before she spoke with a smile. "It has not escaped my notice the wonderful work that this class has accomplished on your semester projects. Though I was not able to see the final presentations I have been informed of your studious fact finding and convincing arguments to the planetary governments you were assigned."

Her gaze lingered proudly on Korkie for a moment before she made sure to make eye contact with each of the other students. "Your recommendations though solidly based on your research may have been merely for the benefit of your professors, however, I think it is time that a few of you have the opportunity to see the process of these type of conversations in action."

The cadets shot glances at each other wondering what she could possibly mean.

She didn't keep them long in suspense. "There is to be a conference of peace here on the neutral planet of Mandalore to which will be invited representatives from both the Republic Senate and the Senate of the Confederation of Independent Systems."

A buzz of amazed and excited chatter ran around the room. They all knew that while thousands of beings may die on a battlefield, wars were often truly won or lost around the bargaining table. What she was proposing could be just such an historic occasion.

The duchess cleared her throat. It was a small sound but it immediately brought all of the cadets and their professors back to attention. "I have decided to allow several of our future leaders to attend the conference as pages to the delegates."

Another excited cry swept the room. This time it only took a raise of her noble eyebrow to silence the crowd. She didn't appear angry however, there was a definite twinkle of amusement in her blue eyes. "Those cadets who received the highest scores on the project you have just completed will be the first considered for the positions."

Amis gave a whoop and Lagos elbowed him. Korkie just grinned at Soniee who sat staring at her desk, eyes wide with astonishment at the prospect.

Again Satine's smile lingered on the four of them. She might have liked to just give them the page assignments but she could not without being accused of favoritism. As it had conspired they had exceeded her expectations and earned the positions on their own. She could not have been more pleased.

"I have been given the list of the cadets whose honor it will be to attend the conference and you will each be randomly assigned to a senator either from the Republic or the Confederation of Independent Systems. You will be expected to pay all respect to your chosen representative whether or not you agree with their personal politics. Though I know I can count on each and every one of you to represent Mandalore and your Academy as the shining examples of our civility and integrity."

All the cadets sat up a bit straighter in their seats, determined to live up to their duchess's faith in them.


	3. In The Room Where It Happened

following directly after the rewind during the episode "A Friend In Need" from season 4 of the Clone Wars. we find our cadets waiting for the delegates of the peace conference to arrive so they can be in the room where it happens.

* * *

"I'm sorry," Korkie said for about the hundredth time as he and Soniee and Amis and a few of the other lucky chosen cadets in their spotless uniforms lounged on the palace steps. As soon as they heard the tell tale approach of a transport bringing one of their assigned dignitaries, of course, they would snap to attention. But for now their first lesson in the grand game of politics seemed to be a grand game of hurry up and wait.

Soniee sighed looking up from her polished shoes. "It's alright, really."

"But I know you would have liked to have been assigned to Senator Bonteri so you could find out more about Onderon."

She was touched by the thought but she, like the rest of them, was just anxious about not doing anything wrong and spoiling the entire peace process. "I'm sure I'll get the chance some day."

"Yeah," Amis interrupted. "Maybe at the reception after." He was rubbing his stomach.

Soniee laughed. "You're just thinking about the buffet. Didn't you eat breakfast?"

"Of course I did but that was like a standard hour ago and I'm a growing Mando'ad."

Korkie also couldn't help but smile. Even though he would much rather spend this time waiting alone with Soniee, seeing her smile was like a ray of starshine. "Still," he offered. "I'll see what I can find out about her planet and then I'll introduce you to her at the reception."

"Thank you, Korkie." She said softly and turned that smile towards him alone.

He would have liked to say something else but at that moment her attention was drawn to the skyway and an approaching vehicle that he couldn't yet hear or see. She must have had amazing hearing because just a few seconds later all of the cadets on the steps rose to stand at attention. No matter who's assigned senator it might be, none of them wanted to be caught lying around.

"This one's me." Amis mumbled and stepped forward with a nervous cough as the imposing yellow eyed Siniteen descended from the transport.

The speaker for the Separatist senate looked past all of them as if they were beneath his notice until Amis once again cleared his throat and bowed respectfully. "Senator Lawise, welcome to Mandalore. I'm Cadet Amis and I would be happy to show you into the meeting chamber."

The Senator gave a grunt of what Amis supposed was agreement and waved a hand for the cadet to lead on.

Soniee and Korkie both tried to give their friend encouraging smiles. They all remained at attention until the doors had closed and they could speak freely again.

"I'm glad I wasn't chosen as his page," Soniee observed with a slight shudder.

Korkie nodded. He was glad she hadn't been as well. "You'll do well with Senator Amidala."

"She's a friend of your aunt's and she's supposed to be very nice," Soniee agreed.

"But she's not the Onderonian senator," Korkie returned to their earlier subject. "I know you wanted…"

"Korkie, the assignments were chosen at random. I don't blame you. I'm excited to get to work with Senator Amidala. She was the one who really got this whole thing started. I think there's a lot I can learn from her." She took a step closer to him and straightened the collar of his uniform. "I'm just sorry that you couldn't work with your aunt. I know she would have liked to have you at her side to learn from her directly."

"Lagos will be a good fit for her aid as well, though."

Soniee smiled. "And I'm sure you will get along with Senator Bonteri. She has a son just your age, doesn't she?"

"She does." He grew quiet.

"What is it?" Soniee asked.

"He lives with her on Raxus. She's kept him close to her after the death of her husband. He was killed in a Republic attack on Aargonar."

"And you wonder how she can even consider peace as an option after what she's been through?"

Korkie shook his head. "I was just thinking about what it must be like to grow up with both parents like that and then lose one of them so tragically." He took a breath and frowned. "You and I, we never knew our real parents. The duchess has been good to me and your momma raised you to follow the _Resol'nare _but it's not like having a real family."

"_ Aliit ori'shya tal'din _, Family is more than blood. I love my Momma for rescuing me from that wreck and raising me as her own and… I suppose you and Amis and Lagos are a little like family as well."

"You really think of me… of us as your family?"

"Of course I do." Her cheeks turned a charming shade of pink. "Don't you?"

"Well yes, of course."

She looked back over her shoulder. He hadn't heard anything but once again her premonition was soon followed by the appearance of another transport. She stood at attention as the next attendee of the conference was handed down from the vehicle by a senate guard.

Korkie was too busy stealing glances at Soniee to notice who it was who exited the transport after the senator from Naboo.

"Good Morning, Senator Amidala." Soniee bowed and then with a warm smile she also welcomed the other guest. "Padawan Ahsoka."

"The two of you have met?" The senator inquired.

Ahsoka grinned. "I was honored to instruct a class that included Soniee and her friends the last time I was on Mandalore. How've you been, Korkie? Amis?"

"They're all here today." Soniee addressed the senator again politely. "We were all chosen from among the cadets of the academy to attend the proceedings as pages to the delegates." Her countenance fell. "Though if you already have Ahsoka…"

Senator Amidala smiled as if she were just one of the girls. "When I was queen," she said. "I had a whole cadre of handmaidens. I would be glad to have both of you beside me today."

Soniee couldn't argue with that. "Alright. If the both of you would just step this way I'll show you into the meeting chamber."

Ahsoka reached over and squeezed her shoulder. It didn't feel very professional, entering the palace chatting like friends rather than official dignitaries but Soniee couldn't help but be glad things had worked out for her to serve Padme Amidala.

She glanced back once at Korkie as the three of them crossed the threshold and then Korkie was left to wait for his own delegate to arrive. He waited while all of the other senators met up with their cadet pages and were ushered into the building. And then he waited still.

Soniee poked her head out the door a while later to inquire. "Is she still not here?"

"Not yet." He shook his head, taking a slight break from pacing with his hands in his pockets.

"Well they're going to have to get started. Please give the other senators' apologies to Senator Bonteri when she arrives?"

"I will." He assured her.

She nodded but she wore an expression of pity that he was missing the start of things.

He knew she needed to rush back. He wouldn't have asked her to miss this momentous occasion on his account anyway.

Korkie went back to the business of waiting. He should have been thinking about how to word the apology to the senator when she arrived, how it wasn't any trouble that she had arrived after everyone else, how they all understood how unreliable space travel could be. Instead he let his mind wander back to Soniee.

When they had met, first year at the academy they had seemed to have an instant connection over the fact that they were both orphans who lost their birth parents during the civil war. Korkie may have been taken in by the duchess and raised to call her Auntie but Soniee was also brought up by a strong female guardian.

He knew _Ordo'buir _, as Soniee called her, had been a soldier, a pilot, and that she had chosen a more peaceful life after her _ad'ika _crashed into her life. Veeka Ordo was still fiercely proud and she hadn't completely given up the warrior ways of the past. There were a lot of people who couldn't quite fathom why she would allow her daughter to attend the academy where the main course of study was the peaceful politics of the New Mandalorians. Still Soniee had been chosen as the most promising candidate to represent her clan and Veeka let her go.

Soniee had excelled from day one. Korkie had been hard pressed to keep up with her even after his own rigorous primary schooling. He was studiously prepared for the academy while Soniee was raised above a speeder garage and taught marksmanship by her _ba'buir _.

Korkie knew that Soniee's performance at the academy had driven something of a wedge between she and her adoptive mother. Maybe it was because Soniee was soaring above anything that Veeka knew she could ever become. He wondered if this had something to do with the fact that Soniee would be staying in the dorm for the holidays and not flying back home to Concord Dawn. Veeka never visited when the other parents came. Maybe she was ashamed that she was just a mechanic and pilot when the parents of the other cadets were government officials and nobility.

He hoped for Soniee's sake that she would at least come and take her out for that day trip to Keldabe. He knew Soniee missed her _buir _and he would stay out of the way if his being there made the woman uncomfortable. Even though he wouldn't mind getting to know the _buir _who had raised such an amazing _Mando'ad _.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the last transport finally pulling up to the landing platform. He stood at attention and watched as not Mina Bonteri hurried down the ramp but instead a boy his own age with dark hair and a tortured expression.

The boy, not even seeming to notice that Korkie was there, sat down on the steps and pulled out a stylus and data pad.

Korkie moved closer, curious, trying to figure out who exactly this kid was and what he was going to do. Perhaps Senator Bonteri was unable to make it and sent a representative in her place? But then this young man looked an awful lot like the senator herself. Maybe he'd been sent, like the cadets, to learn what these policy meetings were all about. "Why do you write like you're running out of time?"

"Take a holo. It'll last longer," the young man grated through his teeth while his scribbling went on non-stop.

Korkie swallowed back a retort. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"You could talk less." The young man seemed to finish his scribbling and then when he turned to look up at Korkie, the Mandalorian noticed how very much this upstart resembled someone else he knew. "Is this the place where they're having peace conference?"

The realization threw Korkie off guard for a moment and he attempted to recover quickly. "It's uh… yes. The meeting's inside."

"Guess that means I'm in the place to be." He stood with a grim smile and shoved the stylus and datapad in a pocket with one hand while he clapped Korkie on the shoulder with the other. "Thank you for all your service."

And then he was off up the stairs and through the large front door before Korkie had a chance to utter another word.

Korkie blinked and then ran to follow. "Wait! You can't just…"

The young man had stopped just outside the main hall where the meeting was already in session.

"What do you think you're doing?" Korkie hissed.

"Not throwing away my shot." The stranger seemed to gather himself and took a breath. Then he looked back and advised in a low voice. "Might want to get out of the way when the fireworks start." Before he plunged forward into the room. "I have something to say about the legitimacy of the Separatists."

"Why is Lux Bonteri here?" Amita Fonti, the Gossam, Separatist senator asked quietly.

Then Bec Lawise spoke up more forcefully, "What could he possibly have to say?"

"He was not invited," Voe Atell the Confederacy's representative of the corporate alliance added.

The Republic senators were more subdued in their reactions to the interruption, though Korkie did notice Padawan Ahsoka whisper something to Senator Amidala in surprise.

The cadet remained in the doorway unsure of what to do as he watched Lux bow to the Duchess. Satine waved the intruder forward.

Lux Bonteri stepped up to the podium looking as poised as possible in the present situation. Perhaps all that scribbling had been a rehearsal for the words he wanted to speak now. "I stand before you, son of Mina Bonteri, loyal Separatist, a patriot, a friend."

On the last word Lux glanced at Ahsoka. Perhaps he was attempting to gain confidence in the silent support of an ally. Then he barreled on, "It has come to my attention that my mother was murdered by Count Dooku in cold blood."

Bec Lawise stood in outrage at the accusation. "That is a lie! Remove this traitor immediately!"

Ahsoka tried to step forward but Senator Amidala held her back.

Several security droids advanced to take Lux into custody and Korkie had to jump back out of their way.

"I will not be silenced!" Lux called out as they began to forcibly remove him. He didn't seem to be in a great amount of distress however, as if this was all working out according to plan.

"Stop this!" Satine ordered from her throne on the dais, attempting to prevent a galactic incident.

"We would ask you to respect that we deal with this matter ourselves." Voe Atell insisted.

"No! Dooku is deceiving you," Lux called out in a last attempt as the droids dragged him past Korkie's position at the door. "You will all be betrayed just like my mother."

Bec Lawise returned to his chair. "I apologize for such a rude interruption. Please let us continue."

The Senator from Naboo kept her composure remarkably but Korkie even from the other side of the chamber could see cracks in her veneer. Ahsoka left her side to run after Lux Bonteri and Soniee stepped up to fill her position beside Senator Amidala

What a shock it must have been to receive the news of the death of a dear friend and mentor in such a fashion. Korkie knew that Soniee must have mentioned to the republic senator that she was looking forward to meeting representatives from both sides of the conflict and hearing what they had to say, she would have of course added that she would like to be introduced to Mina Bonteri in particular.

Now she never would. The lost opportunity wasn't near the same level of grief that those who knew Senator Bonteri, were surely facing but it was a disappointment.

The attendants of the conference had very little time to dwell on their feelings however, because the initial civility between the Republic and Separatist delegates began to break down almost as soon as the Lux Bonteri had been marched out of the hall. There were doubts about the news that Mina Bonteri was indeed dead, outright denial that it was Count Dooku who had killed her, and then blame thrown at the duchess over how Lux was even able to burst into the proceedings. Perhaps it was because Senator Bonteri was known to be traveling to the peace meeting that she was targeted by those who opposed the proposition. We're any of them safe here in such a well publicized location to which any crazed boy could just walk right in?

Senator Bec Lawise stood and threw his arms wide in his fury. In doing so he whacked Amis who was just returning with a special sort of drink that was only palatable to Siniteens. The palace of Sundari had gone to some trouble to track down the ingredients and mix them in just the proper method. The drink spilled over Amis and the meeting hall floor. Senator Lawise did not apologize. He only sneered at his assigned page and marched from the chamber.

Before he could get out the door however a guard held him back. Out on the steps blasters had been fired as Lux Bonteri escaped from his guards. Korkie also stood at the doorway and when he caught the Senator's yellow eyes he advised. "Probably better not to go out there until they get that cleared up."

"Oh, really? Is that what you think? What is it they teach you at that academy?"

…

When all the dignitaries had parted, the Duchess of Mandalore invited her youngest guests to join her for a non-formal dinner to enjoy the food and drinks that had been prepared to honor the delegates at the reception after their meeting was concluded.

"It wasn't your fault, Auntie." Korkie insisted.

"I know." The duchess sighed and patted her nephew's hand. "It is disappointing though when well laid plans fail to produce the desired results." She took a sip of her wine.

Her relaxed manor put them all more at their ease and Lagos burst out, as if she had been waiting to say it all day, "Did you see Lux Bonteri?"

"Of course we saw him." Amis said with his mouth half full of food which earned him a raised eyebrow from their host. He swallowed and mumbled, "Sorry, your Grace."

"But were you really looking at him?" Lagos asked, undeterred.

Korkie was sure he knew why Lagos of all people would be looking at the late senator's son. He glanced at Soniee. He supposed that most girls might find that sort of dark, brooding young man attractive. But still he chided their friend. "Lag, have some respect. His mother just died."

"And his father not long before that," Soniee mused empathetically.

"It's a pity Soniee didn't get to meet his mother." Lagos pressed on.

"Why? So she could have set them up?" Amis suggested and then looked up from the food on his fork to see them all staring incredulously at him. His uniform was not quite so spotless now and he still smelled a bit like the fragrant beverage that had been spilled on him as the meeting deteriorated. "What? She's not seeing anyone?" he stuffed the bite in his mouth.

"Soniee's birth family was from Onderon." Lagos announced as if it should all make perfect sense.

She got blank stares in return so she heaved an exasperated sigh. "She knows nothing about her birth family but Lux Bonteri looks like he could be her brother."

Soniee felt the eyes of everyone present turn to her. She wished she had her display visor to hide behind but she had left it in her dorm room. "Well, even if we were related, if it took a war for us to meet… would it have been worth it?"


	4. How Lucky We Are To Be Alive Right Now

Getting back to the contemporary story now. As i said this is an alternate sequel to The Ashla Spectrum so if you haven't read that one already i'll wait for it...

And if you have read The Ashla Awareness which was the original sequel you may notice some similarities in the events that followed Soniee's trip back to Mandalore after her brief visit to Coruscant with a few notable differences.

Either way this should get you all caught up!

this chapter draws heavily on the Day of Demand ceremony from the book Leia Princess of Alderaan by Claudia Gray. just a little disappointed i couldn't work in the Rhindon Sword but it was probably displayed somewhere prominent on her first Name Day!

* * *

It was to be a celebration of great magnificence, the Name Day of an Alderaanian royal princess. They didn't know the exact day of her birth and had to spend some time sending invitations to the old ruling families and receiving confirmation that all their guests could make their way here to Aldera City.

Lux Bonteri had been the first to arrive and was settled into apartments in the palace to await the event. Since he had overheard Soniee's news about the fall of Ahsoka Tano in battle he had largely stayed in those apartments, dealing with his grief.

Bail said they should leave him to it. Lux would emerge when he was ready or at least when the ceremony demanded that he put on a brave face for the Galaxy. Or should they call it the Empire now, since the Republic and the Separatist had been united under the one government?

Soniee's arrival had been a surprise but a welcome one. She was told to rest in preparation for the event after her great ordeal. She couldn't say she minded the chance to take advantage of her own sumptuous apartment and the palace and gardens that she was given free reign to explore.

She wanted mostly to go and see Lux and tell him her assumption that Ahsoka had survived somehow and gone into hiding. She followed the instructions of her host however and put off the discussion with her one time friend.

He would probably also like to hear that their chaperone from back in those days on Coruscant had found his way out of the Coruscant guard and was now a house husband with a young adopted son on Mandalore.

Fox had been so happy to go AWOL and make a life with Lagos and her son, Tracyn. He had found a community of other AWOL brothers who welcomed him and his Mandalorian wife. They would be alright and it was because of Soniee that Lagos had lived another day after the siege to go back to them.

Soniee couldn't think about that yet. It wasn't only Soniee who had made Lagos's return to her family possible. There was someone else who had sacrificed everything…

No. It was better that Soniee focus on happier things, on the tenuous peace that had been achieved and on new life.

She had been allowed to hold the little baby girl they had decided to call Leia one afternoon as she sat with Queen Breha having tea. The child was so tiny and perfect like a doll.

Not that Soniee had ever played with dolls when she was a child. Veeka Ordo had given her daughter a stuffed Nexu and a whole lot of toy speeders and spacecraft.

Soniee really had very little experience with babies at all. There had been no other children around when she was young to play with and then when she started at the academy when she was ten standard years old all the cadets were older than she was, except for Korkie and he was only a few months younger. Even he had seemed older with his primary school education and experience of living in the capital city of Sundari.

Again Soniee had to shift her attention away from the memories and focus on the here and now. It was too painful to remember.

There was something about little Leia. As soon as the queen had placed her gently in Soniee's arms, she sensed it. Once it may have been comforting or exciting to feel the power of the Force radiating from another being like herself but now it filled her with apprehension.

Leia's tiny hand reached up and grasped with infant reflexes the crystal that Soniee wore as a pendant on a cord around her neck. There was a powerful sensation that they were the same, she and this newborn baby. They were both made orphans by war and they both possessed a power they would always have to conceal.

Soniee had thought she would never feel that power in another being again since she learned of the purge. Now she almost wished she hadn't. The knowledge was dangerous but perhaps she should bring it up to Bail. He should know what he was dealing with. If only Ordo'buir was still alive and could tell him how she managed to raise a Force sensitive child in a suspicious culture.

As sad as it was to remember her now, Soniee had to laugh at the idea of Veeka Ordo giving advice to the viceroy of Alderaan. Soniee would speak to him but first she went back to her room. She lifted the cord with its crystal pendant off over her head and tucked it down in the very bottom of her crate of clothes.

The viceroy along with the rest of the royal household were simply too busy with the preparations for the name day ceremony for Soniee to approach him and bring up the subject. She supposed she could speak to them after the event.

They had been so gracious to welcome her into their home even if she was a surprise addition to the guest list. The truth was she had nowhere else to go. She didn't want to over extend their hospitality but she would have to think seriously about where she should go after she left the temporary safe haven.

The queen and viceroy had made their final guest list public. The announcement of their daughter's adoption would surely find its way onto the holonet. Once the current government, Galactic and Mandalorian, knew that Soniee was alive and her whereabouts, what would they do with the information?

What about the knowledge of her powers? She didn't feel very powerful right now. Since she had removed her crystal it seemed like a great weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

She had spent so much energy fighting in the siege of Mandalore and she knew that the Kyber crystal had helped to fuel and focus her power. Maybe she had used up the reserve that was inside her. Maybe now that so many Force users had died there would be less power to draw from in the living Force. Maybe now her own powers would just fade away and she could be normal like everyone else. It certainly felt a little like that as she closed the crate on the crystal and symbolically on that part of her life.

She would still warn Bail of what she had sensed in little Leia. But then, what if he already knew? Momma Ordo had known because she had seen the wreck that had killed Soniee's birth mother. She had taken a baby girl out of the ship crying for hunger but without a scratch or a bruise from the crash.

Soniee had often wondered if her birth mother had known that her child would be different. If maybe that was the cause for her flight from Onderon when she was nine months pregnant. Her mother had loved her, had wanted her, had even picked out her name and had asked the unknown female pilot to care for her child.

Was Leia's mother like that? Where had Bail Organa found her? Soniee wanted to ask. She was terribly curious but she wouldn't pry into their business. She was just glad that Leia would have parents who obviously loved her and would raise her as their own.

Soniee chose her gown for the Name Day ceremony from a different crate so that she wouldn't be tempted to pull out the crystal and see if she could sense anything else about the mysterious child. She would wear the blue gown. It had been one of Satine's favorites. But she would forego the extravagant headdress. If her image was to appear in the holos along with her name and former title as Representative of Mandalore, she had to be prepared to look the part.

She did choose three white trumpet flowers, the kind duchess Satine always wore to official functions, to weave into the braids of her hair. One was for her biological mother who had died so soon after her birth. The second was for Satine who didn't live to see her son exchange his wedding vows but who had always treated Soniee like a beloved daughter-in-law. And the last was for Momma Veeka Ordo, who had raised Soniee to the best of her ability on Concord Dawn and had lost her life on that planet when Maul decided to mine it for kybers like the one Soniee had found there, in the cave.

It felt fitting to honor her three mothers on the day when Breha would announce to the galaxy that she was adopting the orphan baby girl as her own daughter.

Soniee stood with the rest of the assembled guests in the throne room with light shining through the stained glass windows onto the blue and gold carpet. She had met several of the other senators while she was serving on Coruscant, was it nine months ago? The notable exception being Padme Amidala who, so the holonet proclaimed, was being entombed also on this day in the capital city of Theed on Naboo. Padme was obviously missed and many of the guests had had to make the choice of which event they would attend.

Soniee spotted Lux across the room and while they couldn't now move toward each other in the crowd so soon to the main event, he smiled at her. It was good to see him smile. Even though they had been staying in the same palace they hadn't once crossed paths in the last few days. He was grieving and she was grieving and slowly recovering.

She tried to mouth the words silently that she would talk to him after. He nodded as if he understood.

Had someone in the crowd noticed the exchange? She felt their eyes on her and noticed a few glances turn in his direction with knowing expressions. As if they knew anything. Yes, their names had been thrown together all those months ago when she'd been stuck in the galactic capitol. And he had attended her graduation ceremony after she finished her exams at the palace in Sundari, as a representative of the senate.

She hardly liked to think about that now. It was then that Darth Maul had seen the kyber crystal she wore around her neck. He had asked where she found it. That had led to his accelerated digging into the core of Concord Dawn that had split the planet like a nuna egg.

Soniee touched her hair to feel that the flowers were still there.

Lux's smile widened. He hadn't seemed to notice the attention the both of them were getting. Maybe he was just used to the publicity. But he judged that she was uncomfortable about her appearance from her action and mouthed, _you look beautiful _.

"He's right you know," said a voice close beside her with a smirking tone. "You do brighten up the room." It was one of the royals from the old ruling families. Soniee didn't know all of their names.

She dipped into a slight curtsy and acknowledged the complement. "Thank you." At least she hoped it was meant as a complement.

After that, Viceroy Bail Organa took his place on the dais in front of his throne, and on the opposite side of the room a curtain was drawn back and Queen Breha stood holding the baby. She was the very picture of grace and motherhood as she walked slowly up the center aisle.

Bail, like the proud papa he was, couldn't help but grin as he called out the first line of the ceremony, "Who is this, who the Queen brings forth to her seat of power?"

Breha looked lovingly down at the bundle in her arms before she made her vow. "This child is Leia Organa, princess of Alderaan. I bring her before you to hear you acknowledge that on this day she is a member of this royal family by love and adoption and when she shall come of age she may demand her right to the crown."

"I do so acknowledge it," Bail announced with a passion that almost cracked his well polished speaking voice. He held out his hand to guide his wife up the steps to stand beside him. He also looked on the baby as if she had hung the moon. If Alderaan had a moon, which it did not, but perhaps this child had the power to pull heavenly bodies out of their own places and cause them to orbit around her.

The lives of the couple standing before them would certainly revolve around her from this day forward.

The rest of the assembled crowd was entreated also to join in the acknowledgement that this child was truly on this day adopted into the royal family and then a great cheer arose.

Soniee raised her voice with the others but when she thought of the simple words that her Ordo'buir had said over her, "_ Ni kar'tayl gai sa'ad" _which meant, "I know your name as my child," tears came to her eyes. There had been no cheering crowd on that day. And Veeka's father had been flabbergasted when his daughter brought home a baby from a battle.

Ba'buir had loved to tell the story: how Vekka, a single woman who knew nothing about babies but who had always wanted to follow the tenets of the _Resol'nare _and raise a child who would also hold to those beliefs had named the foundling child as her own. With all her faults she had turned out to be the very best…

Soniee had lost track of what was going on as the people swirled around her and went to congratulate the couple and discuss the perfection of the ceremony and gossip about anything and everything. Suddenly Lux Bonteri was at her side, offering a handkerchief and a friendly smile.

"Thank you." She whispered as she dried her eyes.

He leaned close to her ear. "I understand why it would be emotional for you, now as an orphan myself."

"Y-yes." She was surprised and moved by his empathy. "I was just thinking about my Ordo'buir saying the words to adopt me. Of course I don't remember it. I was only a few hours old at the time."

He nodded and seeing that the rest were going in to dinner offered his arm to escort her to the dining room.

They hadn't been placed next to each other in the seating arrangement but someone made a trade so that he could stay at her side. She was just glad to be next to a friend and didn't question it. Even so, they didn't really have a chance to talk. Too many other conversations were happening at once.

Then after dinner they were separated. Soniee went to find Bail and Breha to congratulate them and Lux found himself surrounded by Senators who all wanted to discuss the changes from the Republic to the new Imperial order. Gradually the party broke up with some guests flying directly to their home planets and others opting to stay at the lavish hotel in Aldera city.

Soniee was sure Lux would have sought her out to say goodbye if he was leaving that night but she had heard nothing about him packing up the rooms where he had stayed these past few days.

She decided to seek him out once she had extricated herself from a conversation with a distant cousin of Breha's who would be staying in rooms on the other side of the palace because she thought she had drunk a little too much to make it home safely. Soniee couldn't argue with that but was stuck talking to the woman for almost half an hour till the sky above was full of stars and she was certain Lux must have already taken to his bed, exhausted after the day's events.

She stepped out into the fresh air of one of the gardens she had explored earlier in the week and chose a path at random. After a few twists and turns she noticed a figure sitting on a bench silhouetted by the city lights in the distance.

Suddenly she was reminded very powerfully of another party she had escaped to find some fresh air. There had been another bench like that one that she had sat on. And a silhouette cast in front of another city skyline. The one thing that memory had in common with this was the young man who cast the silhouette.

She stood still for she wasn't sure how long, it was probably only moments, watching him. Then finally he noticed her, looked up, and smiled. "Soniee," he breathed her name and then tried for a laugh, "I'm sorry for running out on you back there."

It was enough to break the tension and she went to sit beside him. "I might forgive you."

"Maybe I was trying to get back at you for disappearing after Concord Dawn." He meant it to be light hearted but after he said it, he realized the destruction of her planet was no laughing matter.

"Soniee, I'm sorry…" he began at the same time that she started, "I'm sorry I never contacted anyone to tell them I wasn't on the planet when it happened."

"But your mother was," he said softly and reached out to touch her hand.

She didn't flinch away. "Yes. And my Ba'buir, the village where I grew up, everything and everyone…"

He stroked her cheek, wiping away a tear she didn't know had fallen. For a moment they looked into each others eyes.

"Lux…" she stopped, took a breath, and then started again, "Do you want to talk about Ahsoka?"

Another flash of memory: _it was the same thing she had asked him on that other night. Ahsoka had been on the run after she was framed for the murder of the Temple hanger bombing. _

He dropped his hand to his side. "You were fighting near her. You said you saw the clones fire…"

"One of them, Captain Rex… I don't know. Something was different about him from the others. I think he shot a stun blast before the rest of them fired. I can't be sure. It happened so fast."

Lux nodded at her assessment. "Her name was announced among those who died. Maybe… she wanted everyone to believe it so they wouldn't look for her?" He stated it like a question.

"I don't know," Soniee said again.

He seemed to come to his own conclusion. "So we play along, whether it's true or not. We let her go and we don't draw attention by looking for her ourselves."

She didn't answer. He could pretend to be grieving while holding onto the hope that their friend was out there somewhere. She didn't have that same hope.

He attempted to cheer her, taking one of her hands in both of his. "They haven't made any announcements about finding or capturing Master Yoda or Master Kenobi. Maybe they're still out there in hiding and safe?"

"I suppose it's possible." Her tears had resumed.

"You've lost someone else." He read her as surely as if he had been using the Force. "Someone close to you?"

She nodded and choked out, "Korkie."

The truth dawned on him in less than a standard second. "Korkie Kryze, the duchess's nephew."

"Elek," she took a steadying breath. She wanted to get this out. She needed to tell it, to process what had happened. "Only he wasn't her nephew, he was her son and he was..."

Lux cleared his throat, taking in the meaning of her words. "He was the heir. But he disappeared around the time of her death, around the time that you came to Coruscant."

"He proposed to me before he went into hiding. It was reckless we didn't know if we'd ever see each other again. But the war was still going on and we didn't know how much time we would have…"

He took hold of her hand. "So back on Coruscant, Fox?"

"I couldn't be with Fox because I still held onto the hope that Korkie and I might be together again someday." She looked up at him and smiled. "Fox is in a much better place he married my friend Lagos and adopted her son as his own."

"You'll have to tell me how that all came about later." He was just glad to see her smile. "But what happened to you? I never completely understood why you left so suddenly."

"Korkie was able to make contact with me." She swallowed back tears. "We said our vows over the comm. According to Mandalorian custom he was my husband, _Mhi solus dar'tome _, we are one though we are apart."

She sniffed and he handed her a handkerchief.

"Thank you," she wiped her eyes and nose before she continued. "I was supposed to meet him. We would… I don't know, go into hiding together. But Maul and Almec tracked me down. I couldn't risk going to where Korkie was and drawing attention to him. I had to continue to play the loyal little representative of Mandalore. I went home to Concord Dawn for a while to stay with Ordo'buir. I visited the site of my birth mother's crash and found her journal."

"So you know who she is and where she came from?" He was distracted by the idea.

She gave him another sad smile and rolled her eyes. "No, it's all in Onderonian runes."

He laughed softly and reached out to tuck a lock of her hair that had escaped from one of her braids behind her ear. "I'll find someone to help you get it translated."

For a moment they just stared at each other. She thought he might kiss her but she jumped back into the story.

"You know about my graduation. You were there."

"I was there," he agreed. "But you were rather distracted at the time. Happy from all appearances, but distracted."

"You remember my guards?"

"Your protectors, yes."

"That was their official title, the Protectors of Concord Dawn."

"All of them fully armored an anonymous?"

Soniee nodded. "It was the first time Korkie and I had been together in nearly six standard months, since before I left for Coruscant. We planned to run away. I donned the armor and sent a decoy home with Momma to Concord Dawn. I didn't realize that the area where he was training was where Lagos was staying also. I got to be there when her son was born. Korkie and I talked about settling down right next door and starting a family of our own when the war was over." Again tears leaked out over her cheeks and she wiped them away with the handkerchief.

"Your mother was going to come and join you later?" He surmised. "The explosion could have never entered into your plans."

"No." She shook her head. "But it was... my fault." She paused trying to think how to explain. "Maul was controlling Almec. He was there, behind the scenes at my graduation. He requested my presence the night after the ceremony and asked me about… an artifact."

Soniee's hand went to her throat expecting to feel the crystal there that she had worn every day until this very morning. "I was distracted, like you said. I never saw the danger in telling him that something like that might be found on my home planet. He said he might like to come and visit me there and it only strengthened my resolve to be away. I thought by leaving I would be protecting my home."

Again Lux took her hand in his and squeezed it. "The mining accident was Maul looking for this artifact?"

Her answer was a ragged sob and he pulled her into a hug that she didn't resist. This time he took the handkerchief and wiped the tears away for her.

She smiled her thanks for his kindness and sat back when she was ready to resume the story. "After that we threw ourselves into preparing for the fight that we knew was coming. Bo Katan contacted Ahsoka and Ahsoka requested help from the Jedi Order. They gave her a battalion of clones to fight alongside us. Fox came with them. That's when he met Lagos but I hadn't realized that they had already been in contact. He had commed her after Concord Dawn believing that she would be mourning for me."

"He finally got his Mando Girl." Lux smiled.

"He did." Soniee laughed and sniffed again. "He had technically already gone AWOL he wasn't really supposed to be with Ahsoka's men. When we went into battle he stayed back with Tracyn. He had already said the words to adopt the baby and just before she got on board the transport he and Lagos recited their wedding vows."

"That was… fast," Lux mused.

"It was in the middle of a war." she shrugged. "We were hopeful but we had no idea if any of us would be coming back. You should have seen him with that baby, though. Waving his little hand to his Momma as we took off…"

He didn't interrupt her as she dwelt on the memory for a moment before she got to the true meat of the tale. "The battle was…" She didn't really need to explain that part. He had been in battles of his own freeing Onderon from the Separatists.

"Anyway I… I saw it coming. Korkie and Lagos were on the march close to each other and I felt that they were in danger. I commed them with the warning. I know Korkie heard me but Lagos pressed ahead." The sob rose in her chest and the tears welled in her eyes as she relived the event. "Instead of getting himself out of harm's way he pushed her aside. He knew it meant sacrificing himself but he just wanted her to make it home to her husband and her son."

Again Soniee's hand went toward her throat and the crystal that wasn't there. Maybe through its focusing power she could feel Korkie's presence again as she once had. But she knew that wasn't possible. He was gone. The Jedi were gone. That power that had once comforted and complicated her life needed to be gone. She had to let it go.

She dropped her hand and Lux caught it. There were no words that he could have said just then that would have mattered. Instead he leaned forward without another thought and kissed her.

Soniee responded automatically, pulling him closer. It was very like that other time, after that other party, on that other bench but there was no voice speaking ultimatums in her mind and he wasn't being possessed to tempt her.

When they broke apart with a shared gasp, both panting for breath, he whispered, "I'm sorry. I know it's not the time or the place…"

"No, it's okay it's just…" she swallowed and smiled almost shyly at him. "When I first landed and I saw you. I was so glad to find a friend."

"I was relieved to see you alive and well." He sighed. "Well, not exactly well. You sort of collapsed into my arms."

"I recovered in time for the Name Day celebration."

They hadn't moved away from each other. He still had his arms around her.

"I'm so glad you did. Seeing you there…" with a slight question in his eyes he lowered his mouth again to hers and placed a more tentative kiss on her lips.

She allowed herself to thoroughly enjoy the sensation but changed the subject slightly when she was able to speak again. "I'm glad I could be there for Leia's adoption as well. It was a wonderful event to witness."

A grin tugged at the corner of Lux's mouth. "You know they all think she's ours?"

"What?" Soniee sat up straighter and pushed herself not completely out of his arms.

He bit his lip to contain his mirth. "You haven't been keeping up with the tabloids?"

"No." She shook her head. They had enjoyed reading the ridiculous stories when she was on Coruscant but after she left she had thought her name would fade out of the limelight.

"How long ago was it exactly that you left the capital?" he asked her, with humor dancing in his eyes.

"It was about… nine standard months."

Lux grinned widely now. "No one was sure what made you take off so suddenly." He took a comm unit out of his pocket and quickly looked something up. He held out a holo that must have been taken at her graduation. She had hugged her friend and he had held her out at arms length to look at her. The still image captured the two of them smiling at each other and her dress which was high-waisted did not accurately conform to her flat stomach beneath.

The tabloid publication had added an arrow pointing to the region of her abdomen with the text printed in plain basic, "_ Reason for Representative's flight confirmed! Happy reunion with the father of her child! _"

"I knew I shouldn't have worn that dress." She moaned.

Lux laughed. "You disappeared and then…"

"And then conveniently reappeared here at exactly the same time as the orphan baby Bail and Breha Organa chose to adopt."

"Most of them think you were here the whole time of your pregnancy. That's why you never went back to Concord Dawn."

She gave a deep, resigned sigh. "Well I suppose they'll believe whatever it is they want to believe. And we had only ever kissed the one time."

He touched her cheek. "And I wasn't even aware to remember it."

"It wasn't really you." Her gaze flitted down to his mouth. "I mean it was you but you weren't in control."

"You'll forgive me if I'm a little jealous that I wasn't conscious to experience it." He desperately wanted to kiss her again now. "How far did I get before you pushed me away?"

Her breath was now coming in short gasps that mirrored his, and her heart was racing. "Well your hands were… on me and your lips…" she could no longer speak when his mouth once again claimed hers.

His hands went to her hair and released the braids from their clip. The three trumpet flowers lazily tumbled to the ground while he ran his fingers through the loosened tresses, his fingertips tingling against her scalp as he pulled her even closer.

She moaned and her lips parted to allow his tongue entrance to taste her. Her hands pushed aside the lapels of his jacket and pressed flat against his chest that rose and fell in frantic inhalation.

He also wanted to get beyond the layers of her clothing. Pulling her up onto his lap, he slipped a hand under her skirt, running it up her leg and squeezing her thigh. "Soniee, this is really me," he took his lips from hers only long enough to say the words. "And I want you!"

As if his actions weren't statement enough, hearing them spoken drove her wild. She purred, "Yes!" She fought against the layers of skirts along with him to be free of them and then tugged his buttons open as well. She didn't want to think. She only wanted to feel and right now Lux Bonteri felt better than anything in the Galaxy.

All those months ago at that other party on that other bench she had pushed him away not only because he wasn't in control of his own actions but also because it would be betraying her feelings for Korkie and his for Ahsoka. But now Korkie was gone and everyone needed to believe that Ahsoka was too even if she had escaped somehow. There was nothing to stop them and their honest feelings for one another except…

"Soniee… not here." Lux cupped her face in his hands and eyed her guiltily. "I don't have anything to prevent… what we've already been accused of."

"Oh." She deflated a bit. Trying to regain her breath, she dropped her head onto his shoulder.

"Besides," He stroked her hair. "I don't want it to just be like this between us. You're better than that."

She cuddled closer to him and she could feel him smiling.

"I should at the very least have invited you to my room or suggested that we go back to yours."

Playfully she looked up at him. "Which one is closer?"

"What?" he pushed her away slightly, the better to look deeply into her eyes.

"Which room is closer?" she asked again. "Though I suppose if… protection is in your room, we'll have to go there first anyway."

He studied her with an amplifying hunger at the suggestion. "Are you sure?"

She swallowed and nodded and then stood to straighten her clothing for their mad dash to a place where she could remove it all to be with him.


	5. That Would Be Enough

So Soniee and Lux are getting reacquainted, someone under stress meets someone looking pretty, and... I'll let them tell it.

* * *

The first thing she realized as she came to wakefulness was that she had slept soundly without any nightmares. The visions had plagued her for so long that she had almost taken them for granted. She could only hope that this was a sign that her powers were indeed diminishing. That and removing her necklace had surely helped as well.

Her hand went to her throat before she even opened her eyes. No, she wasn't wearing it. It was safe in the bottom of that crate and it could stay there for as long as…

Then she realized the second thing. She wasn't wearing anything else either, not pajamas or a gown or the clothes that she had not bothered to remove from the day before because she had been so exhausted, nothing.

She felt for the rather rumpled sheet to pull over her and then hazarded opening her eyes. In the bed beside her was Lux Bonteri. He was just lying there gazing at her. She wondered how long he'd been watching her sleep.

It all came back to her: kissing in the garden, the frantic rush to his room to be behind closed doors and peeling off the layers of clothing that they had both worn to the royal name day ceremony. Their lovemaking had been incredible but… Soniee did not do one night stands.

Her cheeks flamed pink, self conscious of his undivided attention and the way his smile only seemed to widen when he saw she was awake.

"Good morning," Lux said softly.

She rolled over slightly and made sure the sheet was covering her before trying to begin a somewhat normal conversation. "About last night. Korkie was the only one... I don't know if I…"

He reached out and ran his fingers through her hair and then down her neck and over her shoulder so that she shivered and he chuckled. "You were amazing, a complete professional."

Her eyes opened wide with shock and he quickly tried to backpedal. "No! That's not what I meant! I'm not saying you should be paid for what we did!"

She knew that was not what he meant but the absurdity of the words caused her to pull the cover over her head and giggle.

Lux tried desperately to make up for the mistake but only managed to dig the hole deeper. "I just meant that I wouldn't have known that you were inexperienced."

"Because you are so experienced?" Soniee teased but she must have hit a bit of a nerve, "and you know exactly what professionals are like…" She bit her tongue after the words were out of her mouth.

"Look Soniee, I'm not going to deny that I've... But that's all over."

She started to say something else to let him off the hook but he spoke over her, "What I mean is... I want you to come back to Onderon with me."

That was not what she had been expecting. She rolled away from him and sat up on the edge of the bed. "Lux I… just lost my husband."

He scooted up behind her and laid a hand on her bare shoulder. "You said yourself, you didn't know where you were going to go next. Soniee, I don't think what happened last night was just some random whim."

She looked back at him sincerely. "I don't think so either."

"Then come back with me." He clearly wanted nothing more than to gather her back into his arms but he restrained himself so that they continue their conversation. "I have to go back at least for a little while and I know you've always wanted to see the planet. Maybe you can get your mother's journal translated and find out something about your family."

His hand was still resting on her shoulder and she took it in hers. "I do want all that and I would like to see… what this is between you and me. I just… the war is over. We have time. I don't want to rush into anything. Maybe we could take things more slowly."

He raised her hand holding his to his lips and kissed it. "I understand. If that's what you need then we can take things more slowly."

Lux moved towards her, though only a centimeter at a time, and when he cracked a smile she realized what he was doing: literally taking things slow.

She pushed him playfully back against the mattress and leaned over him. "How long do you have before you have to leave?"

He smiled up at her and laughed. "A couple of hours."

"A couple of hours? Did you honestly expect me to be packed and ready to fly away across the galaxy with you in just a couple of hours?"

He traced the shape of one breast with his fingers, appreciatively. "Well, we could have had your things sent along later. It's not like you _need _all those clothes anyway."

She grabbed a pillow to swat him with, and he rolled the two of them over so that he was on top. He smoothed her hair out of her face and promised with his eyes as well as his words, "We'll take our time but I do want to see this through, whatever it is."

"I didn't say stop, Lux." She answered him. "Just go slow." Then she grinned. "And talk less." She pulled his face to hers and kissed him.

…

She believed she made it back to her own suite of palace guest rooms without being seen by any sentients or droids. She couldn't quite be bothered by the idea however of someone finding out that she and Lux had spent the night together. Most beings it seemed, already believed that they had a child together. What further harm could it do to add to the legend that the two of them had rekindled their romance after finding a loving home for their child to grow up in? Besides being with Lux made her happy and she didn't care who found out about that.

Soniee wanted to get a shower and be dressed and ready to accompany her new… _boyfriend? _to the space dock to see him off on his journey. Before she did that however she couldn't help but pick up the nearest holonet access unit and look up what the press was saying about her. She saw the image again that he had shown her last night of their embrace at her graduation ceremony and the supposed evidence of her pregnancy.

She tilted her head to the side to try to determine if she actually did appear to be sporting a baby bump. She had never imagined at the time that her wardrobe choice and subsequent disappearance might have fed such false rumors.

And now there was another trending image featuring she and senator Bonteri. Someone had managed to get a hold of the security footage of the landing platform where she had fainted a few days ago. The still that had been captured and reproduced all over the Galaxy, showed Soniee after she had collapsed and Lux was holding her. The accompanying caption announced, "Together Again." The story went on to talk about how they had been forced apart. He had been contacted when she went into labor and arrived soon after she gave birth. She ran to meet him against the doctor's orders and had been overcome by seeing him again.

Could they not see that she had just descended from the ramp of her own ship that had only moments before landed on that same platform? The Galaxy it seemed had chosen not to notice that she had run away from the burning capital of Mandalore. They didn't see her flight suit or the ash on her cheeks.

Maybe that was for the best. Maybe she could let them have their theories since they had decided to pair her with someone who's company she actually enjoyed. It's not like she could put a stop to it anyway.

There would probably be 'eyes' watching them when she saw him off at his ship in just a little while. Well, let them watch. Let the whole Galaxy see that she was involved in a relationship with Lux Bonteri. That's what this was, she decided, and whatever else might come of it that was enough for now.

…

The young couple walked to the space dock hand in hand, foregoing the transport that was offered to them. It was a pleasant avenue that led from the palace and his luggage had already been sent ahead to be loaded onto the ship.

"Last chance," he said hopefully when the craft came in sight ahead of them. He held her back and he laid his hands gently on her shoulders. "I could comm, have a room prepared for you." He leaned towards her and said in a lower voice. "I could have my room prepared for you."

"Now, Lux," she chided not entirely able to hide a smile. "We agreed that we're going to take things slowly." She wrapped her arms loosely around his neck.

His hands dropped to her waist and he pulled her closer. And then with an agonizingly measured rate he moved his face towards hers, "Very… slowly…"

She laughed, stood on her toes to cut the rest of the distance, and kissed him.

He indulged her for a standard second and then pushed her back again. "Enough! I don't want to be accused of moving too fast."

Soniee sighed knowing their time together was coming to a close. "You will comm as soon as you get out of hyperspace?"

"Yes, ma'am." Lux put on his most dutiful expression that couldn't last before he broke into a grin once again and took her hand so they could continue on their walk.

"What are you up to?" She asked suspiciously.

"Nothing." He brought her hand to his lips without looking her in the eye. "The sooner I get to Onderon the faster I can finish up whatever they need me for and get back to you."

"Right."

"Really!" He looked offended at her disbelief. "Come on, I'll give you a tour of my ship"

They had reached the loading ramp and he was tugging her along but she dug in her heels. "Oh no! You're going to get me on board and take off."

He gestured to himself in contrived innocence. "You really think I would just take you and fly away?" He turned towards her and the teasing in his eyes warmed to something much more serious.

"I don't think I could really blame you for trying." She squeezed the hand she was still holding and then let go only so that she could return his embrace.

He whispered against her neck, "I thought I had lost my friend when you left Coruscant, and then after Concord Dawn… I couldn't bear to lose you now after what we've shared."

"You're not going to lose me." She took his face in both her hands. "I'm going to be right here until I figure out what it is I'm supposed to be doing now that the war is over. You're going to comm me as soon as you get to Onderon. Whatever this is, we're going to make it work."

She initiated the kiss but he escalated it, lifting her off her feet and pressing her back against the hull of his ship.

"Manda," she breathed when he let her back down. "Do you want me to pass out in your arms again?"

He chuckled and caressed her cheek with the knuckles of his right hand. "It would make it easier to carry you on board."

"We'll be together again soon."

There was a buzzing sound hovering nearby and Soniee glanced away from his face for a moment to see the holocam that was focused completely on their heartfelt goodbye.

"Don't look now but I think we might make front page news again sometime in the near future."

Of course he had to look when she put it like that. Lux smirked and gave a little shrug. "Might as well make it good then." And he kissed her hard and long.

…

Soniee's knees still felt a little weak as she walked back toward the palace. She wasn't fooling herself. She knew both she and Lux were rebounding from terrible circumstances. But they had been friends before, close friends. It wasn't completely out of the question that they should fall for each other eventually. The Galaxy certainly seemed to think that they needed to be together.

Of course she wondered about Korkie, if he would mind if she moved on so quickly. She knew he would not have wanted her to wallow in grief. He had died… for love, so that Lagos could go back to her loved ones and so little Tracyn could grow up with a mother and a father like neither Soniee or Korkie was able to do.

She wondered if she and Korkie had had a child if he would have acted in the same way. They had decided to not even let that be a possibility until they had made the Galaxy a safer place for a child to grow up in. But he would have been a wonderful father. As the Mandalorian proverb said, _Gar taldin ni jaonyc; gar sa buir, ori'wadaas'la. _Nobody cares who your father was, only the father you'll be.

Soniee hadn't noticed that her hand had come to rest on her abdomen while she was thinking these thoughts. That is, until it was brought to her attention by the cousin of Queen Breha whom she had been stuck talking to for so long the evening before.

"Oh my dear," said the woman, whose hand was pressed against her own temple presumably from a hangover induced headache after all the drinking she had done last night. "Tell me you aren't planning on producing a little sibling for the princess so soon. You really should give your body a rest. Not that my dearest cousins wouldn't take another one off your hands as well."

Soniee could do nothing but stand there in shock. When she found words that were not cussing the busybody out in at least three languages, she managed. "I am not…"

But the woman waved away her excuse. Soniee's voice probably did nothing to help her headache. She winced. "The Viceroy was looking for you. I told him that I had seen you and the young senator walk down to the space dock. I'm rather surprised that you came back."

She raised an eyebrow and paused as if waiting for Soniee to fill in all the juicy details and when she could see that none were forthcoming she sighed. "Senator Organa is in his office."

Soniee wished she knew where that was and she didn't have to ask for directions. She had been there before after she had woken from her unconsciousness but the palace was such a maze of chambers and corridors, the old and the new built side by side that she was sure she would have been lost without help. And if it took her too long to reach him Bail might have very well thought that she did just fly away with Lux.

The woman smugly told her which way to go and then Soniee left her presence as soon as humanly possible.


	6. Chosen For The Constitutional Convention

The door to the office was slightly ajar when she reached it, but Soniee knocked on it all the same to announce her arrival.

"Yes?" Bail called out, not looking up from his desk.

She couldn't tell if she was interrupting anything by just the tone of his voice but he did seem to be focused on the flimzywork that lay before him.

"It's umm… Soniee. I was told you were looking for me?"

He was smiling when he looked up. "Yes, of course. Please come right in. Have a seat. Did you and Mr. Bonteri have a chance to say your goodbyes?"

Was there a twinkle in his eye when he said it? At least he wasn't asking what went on in one of his royal guestrooms last night.

"We did. Thank you," she said cautiously as she entered and sat in the seat he indicated.

"Thank you for coming." He glanced at a comm unit that had a flashing light and then ignored it in favor of his guest that was physically present. "I wanted to speak to you about something."

"Yes?" She was a little concerned what this might be about. She had arrived unannounced and he and the queen had graciously seen to her lodging and food and even medical care. Now that their big public event was over, surely the new little family would want to spend some time alone.

He studied her for a moment. "Firstly… I don't believe you made it to the dining room while we were serving breakfast. Would you like something to eat? I was thinking of having something sent up for myself and I'd be glad for you to join me." Again he glanced at the comm unit with the blinking light. His hand went to hover over a non blinking button for another channel while he waited for her response.

Her first thought was to refuse but she was hungry. "I… that would be lovely. Thank you."

"It's no problem at all." Bail smiled. He pushed the button for the palace kitchen leaving the other line blinking.

"_ What can we do for you, Sir? _" Came the voice over the unit.

"I'm afraid Miss Ordo and I won't be able to make it to the dining room for lunch. Could we please have some…" he looked at her and raised an eyebrow in question. "Nuna salad sandwiches?"

She nodded with a grateful smile.

"And two glasses of … blue milk."

Again she nodded her approval of the selection.

"_ Anything else, sir? _" the member of the kitchen staff asked. " _We have some of the cake left over from the party yesterday. I could send up a couple of slices of that as well. _"

"What do you think, Miss Ordo?" Bail asked.

"That would be very nice." She raised her voice a bit toward the comm unit. "And thank you so much."

"_ It's no problem at all. We'll have that up to you in a few standard minutes. _"

"Your staff have all been so kind to me since I arrived," Soniee commented after the connection had been closed.

"We're lucky on Alderaan. We are loved by our people. We have their loyalty. That's because we love them and are loyal to them in turn. If we ever cease to appreciate those around us-from the highest lord to the humblest laborer-we'll lose that loyalty. We'll deserve to lose it."

She mused on the words. It sounded a bit like a line from one of his senatorial speeches but at the same time she knew he meant it and it put her at ease that he wasn't going to be kicking her out of her guest room any time too soon.

And then his expression grew more serious. "Soniee, I'm afraid that we haven't been as loyal to you as we should have been."

"Whatever do you mean?"

He cleared his throat, glanced at that still blinking light, and then made a point to look her in the eye once again. "I'm sure you have become aware of the rumors concerning our Leia's parentage."

So that was what this was about. She didn't deny it. "The holozines are saying she's mine, that when I disappeared after… that I came here for my confinement."

"That's the gist of it." Bail frowned. "You and I and Breha and Lux Bonteri as well I believe, know that these rumors are totally false."

"Yes." She tried and almost succeeded to hold back a laugh.

"I'm glad you see some humor in the situation." His expression softened. "However, if it makes you uncomfortable at all, the Queen and I can contact the holonews and have them print a denial of the accusation."

Soniee thought about this. "Only if you think it's necessary. I don't really care what they say about me… and neither does Lux," she added. "It seems as if, maybe if we just ignore it, they'll move on to something else in a few days. Where as if we bring more attention to it, they'll think there's something we're trying to hide."

"That is a very wise summation." He nodded, clearly impressed.

There was a knock on the door and a tray brought in and placed on the desk. Soniee hadn't truly realized how hungry she was until she got a sight and smell of the food. She and the viceroy both thanked the server but then she wondered, now that Bail had addressed the matter he had wanted to see her about, if she ought to just excuse herself and eat in the dining room.

He didn't seem to be in a hurry for her to leave, though. He passed her a plate and let her have first choice of the pile of sandwiches.

She took a bite, it was wonderful, and then placed the sandwich back onto her plate. If Bail was done with what he wanted to say to her, maybe it was time for her to bring up the subject she had thought of a few days ago when she'd first been allowed to hold the new baby. "Sir," she began politely. "I wondered if… and I don't mean to pry, but… I wondered if you knew who Leia's true parents were."

He coughed, took a drink of his blue milk and then looked very stern in deed. "Why do you ask?"

This was certainly not the reaction she had expected. "Well I didn't really want to know specifically who they were just…" how to word this… "if one or the other of them was possibly…" out with it, "sensitive to the Force?"

He was quite definitely uncomfortable with the turn of the conversation now so before he could say anything Soniee continued. She knew that for a Jedi to reveal that they had been in a relationship and produced a child would have been a disaster when the Order was still active to reprimand them but now that all the Jedi were being hunted down it might be an even bigger danger to reveal. "I know that the ability doesn't necessarily run in families. I was acquainted with someone who didn't show any signs at all of…"

He raised a hand to stop her before she revealed anything more dangerous.

She nodded. "You don't have to tell me, if you know. I just wanted to tell you that Leia… when I held her, I felt… just that, she'll have to be careful as she grows up not to… use her hidden talents."

The senator looked like he had received a blow. He sat back in his chair sandwich forgotten. "You sensed that power in her." He shook his head and this time looked at the door that still stood ajar. He said in a lower voice, "there were rumors that you…"

"I never studied at the temple. My Momma knew I was… different. Mandalorians have always been... suspicious of Force users. She raised me to keep my abilities a secret. But… I'm sure that's why the clones turned on me after they shot Ahsoka."

Bail leaned forward in his chair again, now all compassion. "And now? Do you believe you might still be in danger?"

"I don't know." Soniee shrugged. "I know I felt something in Leia but other than that, since I left Mandalore, with so much of the living Force being erased from the Galaxy, I think my powers may be fading."

"I hope you're right, for your sake." He reached across the desk and squeezed her hand. "We will go on under the assumption that that's the case."

She nodded more grateful for this man's willingness to stand by her than anything else he had done for her thus far. "Thank you."

"Even if you do still carry some of that… ability. You'll have to be just as careful to hide it as you did when you were a child, especially in the next few weeks and months." He said levely and she thought that his eyes went again to the flashing light on the comm unit.

"Sir?" she asked and then she couldn't contain her curiosity any longer. "Do you need to check on that?" She pointed at the now undenyable blinking.

He smirked. Viceroy of Alderaan, Senator Bail Organa, smirked. "That's actually why I wanted to speak with you."

"You don't mean that, whoever that is has been on hold this whole time, since I was down at the space dock with Lux?"

"Yes, he has," Bail answered proudly. "Now, why don't you finish eating while I explain to you what exactly is going on."

Soniee, intrigued, took a large bite of her sandwich and chewed while he began to explain.

"As you have already heard the Republic has been reformed into the Galactic Empire. Our one time temporary chancellor is now the undisputed Emperor."

He wore his heart on his sleeve. She had witnessed him be more reserved with his personal feelings in the senate chamber but he must have trusted her enough to see this disapproval of the current situation.

She nodded and swallowed. "Yes, you explained as much to me when I woke up."

"The positive in all this is that the Senate is still viable. Senators and representatives from all over the galaxy are being called back to the capital to get back to the work of government."

"So," she set her plate down on the desk and asked hopefully. "It shouldn't be all that different than before?"

"It is possible that with the reinstatement of the systems which seceded from the Republic and the stronger central figure of the Emperor to lead us and not let us fall into endless debate and political factions that we may actually be able to get something positive done in the Galaxy."

He didn't sound convinced.

"And you'll be going back to Coruscant to fill your position?"

"I will." Bail nodded solemnly. "As soon as preparations can be made."

"But you've just welcomed a child into the family. Surely you can take a break for a few weeks."

"I don't have that luxury it seems. Any delay will be seen as an offence to the Empire and I could lose what voice I have to make a difference."

Soniee could hardly believe it but she knew one thing. "I'm sure you will make a difference." She still didn't understand what this had to do with her and how the person on hold on the comm unit figured into all this. She glanced at the thing again. The blinking seemed to be more impatient than before.

"And you." He said with just a hint of a return of his enigmatic grin. "Will also have the opportunity to make a difference if you choose to take it."

"Me?"

"This morning a comm came through from a certain someone who wished to speak to you. I fielded that message knowing that you weren't ready to deal with it yet."

"That someone has been on hold since this morning?" she asked and then her curiosity overcame her. "Who is it?"

"Prime Minister Almec of Mandalore."

Her mouth dropped open and she stared.

"Don't forget your sandwich." He pointed at her plate and grinned.

She picked it back up again but didn't immediately take a bite until he gestured for her to go ahead and eat.

Then he continued, "The Prime Minister upon learning of your reappearance, has expressed his desire that you should once again take up your position in galactic politics." He held up a finger to make a point. "Not as a representative but as a fully qualified senator. He is under the same time limitations as the rest of us to send someone and prove his loyalty…"

Soniee swallowed and took a drink of her blue milk before she inserted, "and you've had him waiting on the comm all morning long." She had to smile at the audacity of the viceroy.

"Yes," Bail stroked his chin. "He seemed to be of an opinion that he could bully you into the position by saying that you had no other options and I thought that it might cool his heels if I spoke to you first and offered it as a choice."

She appreciated Bail's interception of the conversation more than she could say. "Thank you. But…"

He spoke over her before she could continue. "Would it shock you to hear that I also believe you should take the job as Senator for Mandalore?"

"You… do?" Again she set down her plate. It only had crumbs on it now and she didn't want to spill them on his beautiful, probably antique, rug if her hands began shaking.

"You have proved time and again that you have the understanding and capability for the job." He cleared his throat and admitted, "I had the opportunity to read the speech you were planning to give on the day you were introduced to the Senate."

"You did?"

"It concerned me that the matter was dismissed so quickly without any given explanation so I asked my friend Padme Amidala about it because I knew she had taken an interest in becoming your mentor. I knew she would not have done so lightly or for a cause that she didn't believe in."

"She was such a great help to me in putting the presentation together. I can hardly take credit for…"

"On the contrary, Padme expressed the opinion that most of the work had already been done before you brought the material to her. She only had to rearrange the order of a couple of points to make the information more polished for the Senate chamber."

Soniee dropped her gaze to the still blinking comm unit, embarrassed by his praise.

She didn't look up as he continued, "Your position on requesting Republic aid for Mandalore was a strong one. And I believe if you had been allowed to state your case you would have won the necessary support."

"But everything is different now." Soniee impassioned. "The Republic is no more."

Bail lifted his hands in an expressive shrug. "The situation is not so different as it may seem. Yes, the Republic has become the Empire, however Mandalore is once again at a pivotal stage. Being involved in the galactic arena could greatly increase the chances of your people to come out of this crisis on the positive side."

"You're saying," she sighed. "That Mandalore could benefit from taking our place in the Galaxy and that our voice should be heard."

"Your voice is strong." She wasn't sure if he meant the voice of Mandalore or hers in particular. "I think your representation of your system would be of benefit not only to Mandalore but also to the rest of the Galaxy with whom you would be sharing your unique perspective."

Once again she looked at the comm unit angrily flashing its impatience. "So, you believe I should accept Prime Minister Almec's appointment."

"Almec really has nothing to do with it. He is the one at the disadvantage here. He has to send someone to be his voice and you are his only option since he would have to train anyone else for years to bring them up to the level of knowledge and experience that you already possess."

Soniee frowned at the idea that she was being picked because she was the only available option but Bail was right. She had trained for years to come to this point.

"He will try to play this off as being the one with the upper hand, that he is giving you a gift and you should be grateful to him. Don't let him bully you, Soniee. The cards are all yours to play and I will be right here by your side."

She smiled. "I'm not afraid of him. I haven't been since my friends and I put him in prison when we were still just fifth year cadets."

The viceroy nodded and his hand went to hover over the button that would finally release the Prime Minister of Mandalore from the interminable hell of hold muzak. "So you're ready for this?"

"I am." Then she reached out a hand. "No wait. Do you think what I'm wearing is alright or… maybe I should go and change."

"I think you look fine." Bail drew his hand away from the unit. "But it's up to you. We've kept him waiting this long."

Soniee laughed nervously. "How long has he been on hold?"

"Oh," he glanced at a chrono on the desk. "I'd say a little over a couple of standard hours. I'd guess that means he's pretty serious about wanting to talk to you."

"I guess so." She marveled. "Well maybe we should just go ahead then and get it over with." She straightened her casual clothing as best she could and felt that there were no stray hairs escaping from her simple braid. At least she was clean and calm in knowing at least some of what to expect. "Do you have any idea what time it is in Sundari?"

"Not a clue." Bail shrugged looking almost as eager in his anticipation as she felt.

"Alright then," Soniee took a last deep breath as if she were jumping into a pool. "I'm ready."

Bail activated the comm and it seemed that after waiting so long on hold Almec had almost despaired of their ever answering. It was probably long past meal time in the capital of Mandalore and the Prime Minister had most likely waited as long as he could before he felt the need to have some food brought up to his office as Soniee and Bail had done.

The Prime Minister's meal however did not consistent of simple nuna salad sandwiches but instead he held in his hand a carton of spicy steamed noodles. He was on the point of attempting to maneuver his lips around a dangling bit of the noodle on his fork when his image materialized to Soniee Ordo and Bail Organa.

Almec froze. He tried hurriedly to place the carton down on his desk but a couple of noodles slithered off of his fork. He tried to wipe away the mess but unbeknownst to him left a trail of sauce down the front of his once immaculate suit.

Soniee fought to contain the giddy laughter from bubbling up inside her.

"_ Viceroy, Miss Ordo, so good of you to finally _…" But the Prime Minister was distracted by a noise on the holoscreen beside him. He turned to quickly shut down the projection but not before Soniee saw that the esteemed leader of Mandalore had been passing the time watching tooka vids.

She covered her mouth and coughed and just for a moment caught Bail's eye twinkling with amusement. He had seen it too. The both of them returned to face Almec's holo image with completely regulated expressions.

"_ As I was saying _," the Prime Minister continued. " _It is good of you to _finally _take my comm. You _," He looked pointedly at Bail. " _Viceroy, are aware of the accelerated schedule that we are operating under and the necessity of my conversation with Miss Ordo _."

"By all means," Senator Organa bowed and gestured toward Soniee. "I will not hold you up any further."

Almec gave Bail a curt nod of dismissal and turned his attention to Soniee but he did a double take when the Viceroy did not leave the room or even the holo image.

Senator Bail Organa had no intention of leaving. "Go ahead. She's here now. It took me some time to track her down. It is a large palace and as a guest of myself and my wife she has been given the freedom to explore the grounds as she wishes."

"And I thank you so much for your hospitality, Viceroy," Soniee interjected politely with a slight curtsy.

"It was the least we could do and you know you are always welcome in our home." He ignored Almec.

The Prime Minister cleared his throat audibly. "_ To the business at hand then? _"

Both Bail and Soniee smiled at him blandly.

Once again before Almec could say his piece Bail spoke, "I informed her of the details about the reconvening of the Imperial Senate."

"_ Thank you _," Almec said without looking at him. The Prime Minister's eyes were boring into Soniee's. " _Soniee Ordo I hereby assign you to act as Senator for our esteemed system _..."

"Of course Prime Minister. I'd be happy to," she answered before the words were even completely out of his mouth.

"_ You _…" he was taken aback. Surely he was expecting to have to convince her possibly even force her to take up the position.

"It would be a great honor to serve you and Mandalore, to participate in the building of our new Empire and making sure _your _voice is heard in the Galaxy." The slight emphasis on the word 'your' was just the right touch. She saw the gleam appear in his eyes even through the holo image. She knew he must be feeling a surge of power since his puppet master no longer held the strings. Without Maul and the Shadow Collective throwing a literal shadow over his shoulder and with no duchess to call him out on his shady dealings, Almec had free reign to lead Mandalore as he pleased. At least Soniee was here to provide as much of checks and balance as she was able.

"_ Well then, we need to get you to Coruscant as soon as possible _." the Prime Minister templed his fingers with an almost gleeful attitude. At least as gleeful as the old man ever got.

Before she could respond it was Bail who spoke up. "I have already begun preparations for my own journey to Coruscant and would be glad to offer my services to escort Senator Ordo to her destination." He gave a small bow.

Soniee looked at the viceroy and then back at Almec as they discussed her future. She was a little distracted by the use of her new title, Senator Ordo. She knew this was what she was agreeing to. She just thought that she would have had a little more time to get used to the idea before they were speeding away through hyperspace towards the core. There was something else that was troubling her as well.

The two men concluded the business without her having to add much to the conversation. Then just as they were saying goodbye Almec noticed the stain on his shirt and they saw him rubbing at it as his image faded mumbling something like, "_ was this here the whole time? _"

Bail was chuckling and started to shuffle through some of the flimzywork on his desk. "You handled that very well, Senator…"

She couldn't be bothered with small talk. "We're leaving immediately?"

He looked up at her. "As soon as everything can be packed and made ready, yes. Why, is there something wrong?"

"I…" she wasn't sure how much she wanted to tell him. "I asked Lux to send me a comm when he arrived on Onderon. I told him I was going to stay here for awhile and think things out, until I… figured out where I was going to go next."

"You have done that, I'd say." He offered. "You have accepted the position to join the Imperial Senate and represent the interests of your system. And where you are going next is Coruscant."

"Yes." she squeaked and gave a bit of a panicked sigh. "But it's all moving so quickly."

He left off looking at the work on this desk and folded his hands on top of the flimzy documents. Instead he gave her his full attention. "If it makes you feel any better, all of the current senators have been called back into service if they are able to attend."

"But Mandalore didn't have a senator before, that's why Almec offered me the position so that…"

Patiently and with a smile blooming at the corners of his mouth Bail added, "Onderon has a current senator to be recalled to duty."

"Oh." Soniee hadn't thought of that, but now that she did it made perfect sense.

"So, as soon as Mr Bonteri is out of hyperspace he will receive the same summons that I received this morning." A full smile spread across his face. "I would imagine that Mr Bonteri had other things on his mind this morning than checking his official comm chanel."

Soniee blushed and then nodded. "I suppose he'll have to make his journey to the core as soon as he's touched down on Onderon."

"He may not even have time to touch down if he doesn't want to be late for the first senate session."

"And we don't have much time either…" she began to make preparations in her mind. "I'll need to pack."

"I'll send a few droids to bring your things to my ship."

"And… my ship?"

Bail spread his hands in a benevolent gesture. "Will fit easily aboard the Tantive One so that you will have access to it for whatever reason when we arrive on Coruscant."

"I still don't know where I'm going to stay or how I'll support myself." When she had stayed on the galactic capital planet before she had stayed in Padme Amidala's guest room. She didn't suppose Bail would offer her the same situation.

"It is customary for the System which the senator represents to provide a housing and living allowance. And of course you'll receive a salary in compensation for you time and efforts."

Her eyes grew wide. She had never considered the idea that Senators were paid.

"Now," the viceroy chucked again. "If you're quite done making excuses we both have to ready ourselves for the journey."

"Yes." She stood from the chair where she had been seated for the whole interview and before she left the room she grabbed the last sandwich off the plate. She hadn't realized "senating" was such hungry work.

He called after her as she left the room. "And we'll make sure that if Mr Bonteri comms for you here that someone points him in the right direction."

She turned back to him once more with a smile. "Thank you."


	7. Do You Have To Live An Ocean Away?

Well if it ain't Lux's Sister! Give us a verse, drop some knowledge.

"How does the expat, orphan, immigrant, decorated war vet  
Rise up and claim the throne she should get?  
By her birth, forcing all the noble ones to forfeit?  
Have it all, lose it all  
You ready for more yet?  
Kira heir, crown princess, Dendup's just the warden  
All these noble houses want to shove her in a beast's den  
Not so fast, someone came along to assist her  
Helped with all the trouble and knocked anyone who dissed her  
You haven't met her in our story thus forth  
'Cause she's been kickin' shebs as the Lady of the North!  
But someone's gotta help push Lux to rebel  
You simply must meet Dalla Blackwell!"

DK: Ladies and Gentlemen my assistant author...

LS: Co-author! Duchess K, sit down. If you haven't already, go read Polaris. That's all you had to say.

DK: She really is the smartest in the room! Just passed her NCLEX exam and I couldn't be more proud!

LS: Talk less, DK! Let the folks read the story.

DK: Showtime!

* * *

Lux remembered when she had left Coruscant so suddenly all those months ago. He had believed that she was still mourning her friend Amis or that she was beginning a relationship with Commander Fox. He wouldn't have approached her then with anything other than friendship but is it possible that he was already falling in love with her?

And then he'd been invited to her graduation several months later at the palace in Sundari. It had been so surreal to be back there. The palace had been remodeled since he had burst in on the peace conference, when his mother had just been killed and he was seeking vengeance on her murderer. He remembered the duchess on her throne and the delegates from both the Republic and the Confederation of Independent Systems facing each other for their debate. He wondered if they would have come to some sort of agreement if he hadn't disrupted the friendly conversation. He doubted it. He knew the separatist leaders from when his mother worked closely with them and the Republic Senators, Bail Organa, Mon Mothma and Padme Amidala whom he had worked with himself.

He remembered the cadets standing by to do whatever official pages did at these kind of meetings. And… Soniee had been there as well. He'd been too focused on Ahsoka at the time but she had been there all the same.

Yes, he remembered her graduation day when he entered the palace again and saw Soniee walk down the stairs to greet him and embrace him like an old friend. She had seemed so happy then, her gaze flitting to one in particular of the armored guards who followed her everywhere.

After that she had disappeared again, Lux was glad if she was truly happy, for her to get away from the mess of politics. Playing the game is what had killed his mother. Mina Bonteri had only ever done what she believed was right for her system and her family.

Maybe it was better that Soniee was staying with the Organas for a while. Maybe he could gracefully step down from his position as well. Now that the Republic was the Empire they shouldn't be needing him anymore. It might take a while to tie up those loose ends and then he would ask her again to join him on Onderon. He could find a place for her to stay if she was opposed to the two of them moving right in together. Maybe the Blackwells or the Harkons would allow her to stay with them or Dendup would surely have a whole suite of rooms made up for her in the palace if that's what she wanted. If things went as planned, they would both be spending a lot more time in the palace.

And someone could help her to translate her mother's journal. She would find out how she was always meant to be on Onderon. She would become comfortable and at home on her rightful planet and while she was doing that Lux would see her every day. He would show her how they were always meant to be together or at least how, since they had lost the others who they had loved and who had loved them, that he was glad that the galaxy had brought the two of them together. He wouldn't let anyone or anything stop him from pursuing her affections.

He remembered that there was another comm message that he should probably see to, once he had access. It was just a blinking little light to distract him what from what was most important. Soniee would come first.

And after that he was going to comm Dalla, because Dalla Blackwell, lady of the north, was his best friend. She was the one who commed to check on him after he thought Soniee had died in that explosion on Concord Dawn. She knew him better than anyone and wasn't she going to be pleased and surprised to hear that Soniee was alive and not only that but that they were _seeing_ each other now.

He had met Dalla during the Onderonian rebelion. When he had joined forces with Saw and Steela it had seemed that anyone who was fighting against the usurper king Sanjay Rash was a friend of the cause. They hadn't imagined that Sanjay's young chosen bride would come running to them for help. Dalla had wanted to get rid of the pretender as much if not more so that any of them and she had brought the power of the northern navy with her.

But that hadn't been the first time he had heard Dalla Blackwell's name. Their parents had once thought it would be a good idea to betroth the two of them. How ridiculous that would have been. Dalla was of the north and she would marry another northern lord as was there custom. The northern lords did not mix themselves into southern politics and if Lux was anything or had become anything, he was the embodiment of southern Onderonian politics.

Still Dalla and Lux understood each other. Dalla was there after Steela died. She had fought beside Ahsoka and would understand what it meant for him to lose another dear friend. He would give her a comm and pour out his heart about everything that had happened in the past few weeks.

First though he must speak to Soniee again. So he waited and waited and waited and as soon as a signal popped up on the comm unit he commed the palace in Aldera City.

It was Breha who answered. Lux hadn't known her well before his visit. He had only worked with her husband for the past few months since he had rejoined the Republic as Onderon's senator. But Bail had known his mother and his wife Queen Breha was just as noble and accepting as her husband.

She smiled, holding her daughter up for Lux to see in the holo image. She held up the infant's hand so that Leia could wave at 'Uncle Lux', and informed him that both Bail and Soniee had already left.

"They've left?" Lux was frantic. "Why? What's wrong? She was supposed to stay there. She was supposed to wait till she heard from me." He was rambling but he couldn't help it as the queen looked on with compassion. "We were supposed to discuss the future and how we were going to manage being together."

Breha remembered what it was like to be young and in love. She and Bail's courtship may have been arranged but the young noble had one her over quickly with his charm and charisma. She saw a little of that same magnetism in this young man and she was sure that was one of the things that drew Soniee to his side. "_You'll be together on Coruscant, of course_," she encouraged him.

"Coruscant? Why would we be together on Coruscant?" That didn't make any sense.

"_Haven't you gotten your messages this morning?_" she asked assuming they would have all received the same summons as her husband. "_All the senators have been recalled to attend an emergency meeting. And Soniee Ordo has been requested by the Prime Minister of Mandalore to serve as senator for their system. I would imagine you'll have the opportunity to work very close to each other. But my husband did mention something about a time factor being involved._"

"So they'll be in hyperspace now?"

Breha nodded.

"It figures as soon as I've dropped out I wouldn't be able to contact them." Lux thanked her for the information and ended the comm as quickly and politely as he was able.

He checked his messages and it was just as Queen Breha had said. Lux informed his pilot immediately there would need to be a change of plans. They needed to get to Coruscant as soon as possible. He could see Onderon in the viewport now and regretted not being able to set foot on his planet before he had to rush off again.

And then the pilot checked the gauges. "I'll get you there as fast as this thing can go but the fuel reserves won't. We're going to have to touch down at least for that."

"Where's the fastest refueling station?" Lux asked. He knew how long it could take just to get the proper clearance in and out of the Iziz spacedock.

The pilot checked a screen on the console and then suggested, "Blackhold shouldn't be too busy at this time of the cycle. Care to drop in on northern hospitality before we race for the core?"

"That would be brilliant!" Lux didn't mention to his pilot that he hoped he might be able see Dalla for a quick visit while he was on her home island. It was more probable that she would be out on the sea on her ship.

As soon as they touched down and the crew was seeing to the refueling Lux commed his old friend while he stood there on the space dock. Her image was quite obviously being projected from her cabin on the _Southern Whore_, her flagship named after the derogatory nickname that a pirate had once given to Steela Gerrera.

Lux gestured to his surroundings that must be as recognizable as the deck under her feet. "Guess where I am?"

She swore which he knew from experience was almost a term of endearment coming from the seasoned sailor even though she was also every centimeter the noble lady as well, when she chose to act like one. "_What on Dxun are you doing at Blackhold?_" And then without waiting for his response added, "_How long are you able to stay? I'll have the crew put on all sail. We can be there in less than a day_."

He grinned a little disappointedly. "Have to fly off again as soon as we can get refueled, unfortunately. The Senate calls once again."

"_I thought they were getting close to the end of the session and you'd be able to come home for a while_." The disappointment was obvious in her tone as well.

It wasn't as if they saw each other often anyway. They lived on opposite sides of the planet. And he had spent a good deal of time in the core since they had won back Onderon's sovereignty and he'd been serving as the system's senator. But still he had been honest with her about a lot of things he had never told anyone else and he was going to be honest with her now.

"Have you all heard about what's been going on?"

"_Someone was spouting some rumor that the war was over, but that's ridiculous, aye?_" She shrugged. Since the separatists had left Onderon and the immediate threat was over the doings of the rest of the galaxy didn't really affect things like fishing schedules. "_The last we heard the Jedi and the clones were still spread thin fighting Dooku's droid army_."

"Dooku's dead." Lux stated. There was once a time he had wished he might have the honor of doing that deed himself. After fighting in actual battles and losing close friends, he'd lost the taste for killing even out of revenge. "So is Grievous and the entire droid army was deactivated."

Dalla's eyes grew wide, "_So… we won?"_

"I… don't know." How did he explain what came next? "Supposedly the Chancellor uncovered a plot. The Jedi were trying to take control of the Republic. He sort of ordered the clones to turn on their Jedi generals. They… they killed them all."

"_The clones killed the Jedi? Skywalker? Kenobi? All of them?_"

"I haven't heard those names specifically on the list…" there was something he wasn't saying and she read it through his silence.

"_Ahsoka wasn't in the order anymore, surely they didn't go after her as well_."

Again his silence was answer enough. She covered her mouth with her hand in horror.

"Though I'm not sure if they managed to actually… kill her. Soniee said that she thought Captain Rex might have stunned her before the others got the chance to shoot with more deadly blasts. She thinks Ahsoka might still be out there somewhere in hiding."

As much as Dalla might have wanted to hear more about Ahsoka she had caught the name that Lux spoke with more reverence than he had ever said it before. And hadn't he been mourning her death not long ago? "_Soniee?_"

His face brightened in the holo image like a thousand suns. "She's alive! She wasn't on Concord Dawn at the time of the explosion! She fought in the last battle in Sundari with Ahsoka and when the clones tried to turn on her… She ran away to Alderaan. We…"

Maybe there was a limit to the 'truth' he was willing to share with Dalla but again she read his expression as if he were a very interesting holo.

"_You slept with her_."

"It was more than that. I asked her to come back to Onderon with me. But now the Senate is being reconvined and she's been appointed as Mandalore's Senator to the Imperial Senate. I'm on my way back to Coruscant too. That's why I can't stay long."

As if to illustrate his point, his pilot called out to him that they were done refueling and needed to get in the air.

"_I know you need to go_." There were so many more questions she wanted to ask. She would have to send him a comm when he got back to his senate apartment and hope she wasn't interrupting anything. But she did have to ask one more thing before he disconnected the comm. "_The Imperial senate?_"

"The Chancellor," he explained quickly. "He reformed the Republic into the Galactic Empire. He's the Emperor now."

His words sent a chill down her spine.

"I have to get back there to make sure that Onderon is represented in the new government."

"_I understand_." She didn't completely but she was definitely going to do some research. It seemed as if the North wasn't going to be able to hide from the galaxy any longer.

"I'll comm you after I get settled and know more about how things lie. You and your father will need to know."

"_Aye_." she nodded and then smiled a little sadly before he switched off the comm. "_And good luck with Soniee. I hope you do get to bring her back, so we can meet her._"

"I will." And he gave her the Onderonian goodbye which meant, I'll be thinking of you till I see you again.

She in turn gave him the northern sailors' send off, "_Sail in the light of the salt gods and may they bring you safely home_."

Lux had a single focus as he climbed back onto the ship, _My Soniee's expecting me. Gotta go. Gotta get the job done. Gotta start a new Empire!_

It wasn't until he was buckled into his safety harness ready to take off that he noticed the Lord of the North standing on the landing pad with an angry look on his face and his arms crossed over his chest. Dalla would explain things to her father. _Unifrass!_ He sure had dodged a blaster bolt in not having Marlon Blackwell as a father-in-law!


	8. What'd I Miss?

can we get back to politics?  
Yo.

* * *

The halls surrounding the senate rotunda were bustling when he arrived. Beings from all corners of the galaxy had received the call and were hurrying to make their systems known in this new Empire. All that of course was important but more than anything Lux needed to see one face in the crowd and he thought he knew where he could find her. He sprinted to the floor where he knew the offices of the delegation from Alderaan were located and burst through the door to see a small gathering of senators including Mon Mothma of Chandrila, Riyo Chuchi of Pantora and of course Bail Organa.

He almost didn't see her at first, being partially obscured by the rotund senator from Ryloth. Then he couldn't get to her soon enough.

"Soniee!"

She smiled back at him as he zoomed towards her and then his better judgement left him. He took her shoulders in his hands drew her close and kissed her.

"Lux," she pushed him away gently, embarrassed by this forthright action.

"I'm sorry." He said quietly as first one and then another senator came to welcome him into their midst and pretended that they hadn't seen the greeting. Of course they had and of course it would be all over HNN tomorrow or more likely later this evening.

…

In the meantime the business of governing the galaxy in the Imperial senate would not wait. They were all called to the great rotunda and to their own personal pods. The chamber was more full than Soniee had ever seen it in her previous attendance. It seemed that Republic allied systems and the formerly separatist systems all wanted to have their voices heard in this new assembly and had answered the call to get here for this all important meeting.

Soniee wondered what would be the fate of those systems who couldn't send a representative in time. And what of the holdouts who were loyal to the Confederation of Independent Systems who still valued that independence. Would they be forced into the new Empire with no representation on their behalf?

For all their rush to be here and in their assigned pods it took an awfully long time for their esteemed Emperor to show his face. When he did, there were amazed and horrified exclamations from all around the chamber.

Bail had prepared Soniee by showing her a recording of Palpatine's announcement of the Jedi's betrayal and the formation of the Empire. Many of those present must have not been so well prepared. Either that or this was part of the reason they had hurried to this place to see if it was true that he had been disfigured in the fight.

Emperor Palpatine allowed them their reactions for a full five standard minutes. He wanted them all to stand in awe of what he had endured and survived and risen above. He wanted them to know that this galaxy would likewise endure and survive and rise above. Then when he deemed that they had been given long enough to consider this, he raised his hand just slightly and allowed Mas Amedda to call the room to silence.

What followed in that first official session of the Imperial Senate was the reintroduction of the delegations from the Separatist systems. There were many that had seceded and saw fit to come back as soon as possible to avoid punishment for their insurrection. Many of them were species that were nowhere near human.

It was almost difficult to watch as the beings were called forward one system at a time to proclaim their loyalty to the Empire and apologize for their wayward actions. Thankfully Mandalore had been in good standing with the Republic before the end of the war even though they had declared themselves to be neutral in the fight. Soniee in her lonely pod was ignored but forced to observe the rest of the interrogation process.

Onderon likewise was readmitted to the benevolent jurisdiction of the Republic almost a year before the war ended. So Lux was also forced to merely endure the seemingly endless degradation of the prodigal systems.

The two of them were often to be found looking in each other's direction across the rotunda. They weren't too far away that they couldn't read each other's facial expressions.

At least Soniee tried to pay attention to the goings on. Lux seemed ready to doze off. She wondered if he had been awake for his entire trip to Onderon and then the further trip to Coruscant as well.

She had gotten a little rest while she was flying in Senator Organa's Tantive One. It wasn't easy for her to be in space and not behind the controls as the pilot. Sleeping in the cabin she was offered gave her some respite and had left her rested for this particular occasion. Though as the meeting dragged on she wondered if closing her eyes and letting it all blend together might not be as awful as all that.

She saw that Lux seemed to be doing just that and to avoid his embarrassment at being caught asleep she decided to send him a message to wake him up. "_ Did you get any rest at all on your way here? _" She texted into her comm device and pushed send. Then she giggled to herself when he jolted awake at the vibration of his own comm device.

He saw who it was from and looked across to her with a sleepy grin. Then he began to type into his own device fingers flying over the surface. "_ I couldn't rest, I was too busy thinking about you. I wrote you letters even though I knew you couldn't receive them while I was in hyperspace _," he texted her.

She read the message and then attempted to re-engage in the senate proceedings before she typed back curiously, "_ You're not in hyperspace now. Did you save any of these letters? _"

"_ Are you saying you'd really like to read them? _"

"_ I would love to read anything you wrote to me _."

She watched his face brighten and he glanced up with a smile before he began typing once again. "_ I wrote a lot of what I wanted to say on flimsy until I ran out of sheets. I'll have to show you those later. But there's some of it saved here too _."

He scrolled through what must have been pages and pages of text on the device and then highlighted a large portion and pressed send. It took several standard seconds for all of the data to load onto Soniee's device. Then she could only stare amazed at the volume of his composition.

She skimmed over a few of the pages before she typed back to him. "_ You wrote all this to me? _"

He read her message and looked up at her and nodded before he typed his response. "_ I wanted you to understand how I felt and everything I hope for the future _."

She went back to the document he had sent her and began to read it more earnestly. In the beginning she would occasionally glance up at what was happening with the continued presentation of the senate delegations or to see that Lux was still staring at her, watching her read. After a short while however she found herself fully engrossed in his words.

He had poured out his heart in page after page, recalling to memory every time they had met and all the time they had spent together during her first visit to Coruscant. He told her about Onderon and his parents and his friends there and how he would someday soon introduce her to them and show her all the places he had loved while he was growing up. "_ Just you wait _…"

Lux had dozed off again when she glanced up but the meeting was still going on so she didn't really want to disturb him. She went back to his wonderful words and she also remembered the first time she had seen him during the peace meetings in the palace throne room in Sundari. Korkie had told her afterward about how Lux Bonteri had sat on the steps writing like he was running out of time. Had he been composing what he would say to the senators once he burst in to their meeting or had he perhaps been writing to friends and family a last testament in case his plan to have vengeance for his mother's death, went badly? She would have to ask him some time which it was or if it was something entirely different.

It was a ping on her comm unit from Bail Organa that reminded her to once again attend to the senate hearing that was now coming to a close, and seeing that Lux was slumped in his seat with his eyes closed she passed on a similar message to him. He woke with a start and gave her a nod of thanks before he turned his gaze to the Chancellor's, no the Emperor's, pod in the center of the room.

Palpatine thanked them all for their prompt response to his summons and their patience while they dealt with these small matters of getting the business of government rolling again. The disfigured man in the black cloak informed them that after these initial hearings to welcome them all back into the fold of the Empire he would most likely step back and allow the senate to run as it was intended to see to the matters of their individual systems. He would step in only as needed on occasions when the entire galaxy needed to work together under his direct leadership. Otherwise he would leave the handling of their organization to the management of his Grand Vizier which was the title he bestowed upon the once Vice Chancellor Mas Amedda.

What did that mean? Soniee wondered, as she collected her things to leave the chamber. Was Palpatine just not going to take as visual a role in the Senate as he had as Chancellor? It almost seemed like as Emperor the Senate was now beneath his notice but that wasn't possible, was it? He would still need to be made aware of the individual petitions and quarrels of the systems under his rule, perhaps even more so that he was the supreme leader. Or did he not feel that the individual problems of the different systems mattered anymore now that they were all united under his ultimate power?

The thought gave her a chill down her spine. And now she wished she had paid more attention during some of those interrogations of the returning systems. Maybe she could have gleaned more of what Palpatine's true inclinations were for the new Empire had she listened to all of what was said and read between the lines. She would have to go over the recordings again later to see if there was anything she had missed. That was her first responsibility. That was why she was here, not to be close to Lux Bonteri.

Another ping to her comm alerted her that an office had been allocated to her in the senate building where she could go over those recordings and the documents that had been filed by all of the delegations that were now considered to be official members of the organization of the Imperial Senate. She would probably be spending a lot of late nights there, sorting through all of the information and figuring out what was best for Mandalore and how to help in the committees she would join when she had the chance.

She had to take several twists and turns and out of the way corridors to find the tiny droid maintenance closet of a room that barely had room for a desk and chair and one extra not quite comfortable chair for a single visitor. It was nothing like the office Padme Amidala had once used for meetings with her associates or the rooms she had waited in this morning that belonged to the Alderaanian delegations. Still she supposed that with so many new senators needing to find room to do their work it was as much as could be expected. Maybe it was all that Almec and the government of Mandalore could afford.

The door squeaked when she opened it and it didn't quite lock properly and the lighting was terrible. She'd have to do something about that. But she didn't ask for much and she'd make do with what she as given.

Her first visitor, much to her surprise, was Riyo Chuchi, Senator of Pantora. The door swung open on its own when Riyo knocked on it. "I'm not intruding, am I?" she asked.

"No, not at all." Soniee smiled, glad to see a friendly face.

"I just wanted to welcome my new neighbor. My office is just a little ways down the hall."

"Really?" Soniee was surprised. "I thought you were a few floors up."

"They've been reorganizing with all the new delegations arriving." Riyo ran a blue finger across Soniee's new desk and it came away brown with dust. She brushed off her hands with a frown. Neither of them seemed to believe that the arrangements were quite fair.

Still Soniee as the new comer tread carefully. "I would have thought since you had prior experience that you would be allowed to keep your old accommodations."

Riyo shook her head. "That's not all that's changed in the galactic capital. That's what I came to talk to you about."

The two females had met on Soniee's first trip to Coruscant but they had never been very close friends. Now they put their heads together. Their purposes were similar as were their ages and personalities. It wasn't long until they had agreed to be allies in all things.

It took longer for Lux Bonteri to find Soniee's new workspace. He hardly noticed the Pantoran in his eagerness to see Soniee again. Soniee was sitting on the edge of her desk rather than squeezing around to the narrow space behind it. Riyo made her exit quietly.

"What is this hole in the wall?" he laughed looking round the small space after kissing her again long and hard.

"I suppose I don't need a palace to go over flimsi documents and holo recordings." She shrugged.

He grinned. "You can join me in my office whenever you like."

"Oh, can I?"

"And you can move your things into my apartment as well." He whispered closer to her ear.

"That is one way to solve the problem of my finding a place to stay."

"No problem at all. We could work together all day and retire together in the evening, wake up in each other's arms…"

It was tempting but just then Riyo reappeared in the doorway unashamedly interrupting them. "Well, come on, roomie. Time to go furniture shopping!"


	9. Remind Me What We're Looking For

Lux Bonteri: She's looking for me.

haha, here we have Soniee and Riyo taking a trip to Space Ikea and then a little jump back to the Northern Sea region of Onderon to see what Lady Dalla is going to do with the information that Lux has dropped in her lap before he had to rush away to the capitol.

Once again if you have not read "Polaris" this would be a good time to do so. If you have not I'll just tell you that Dalla's Aunt Shara has the unfortunate distinction of being the ex Mrs. Sanjay Rash. She managed to get away from him before his bid for the throne.

* * *

Riyo Chuchi plopped down on a comfortable sofa and put her tired feet up on the matching "if you buy the set you'll save thousands of credits compared to that other place" ottoman.

"So, you and Lux Bonteri? You have got to tell me how this came to be."

Soniee studied the store holomap for another few seconds trying to make sense of it. All she really wanted were some pretty synth silk sheets like the ones she remembered from the bed in Padme's guest room. Her stipend from the Mandalorian government at least allowed her that one small luxury. You would think they would have something like that around here somewhere. She really didn't want to have to make another stop after tromping around this place for a couple of hours.

Finally she shut off the holo projection of the floorplan and collapsed into the living room display's accompanying recliner with a sigh. "You mean you don't believe the holos that say we're already the proud parents of a beautiful baby girl?"

Riyo laughed and Soniee was glad to be beginning this adventure with the young Pantoran. "Oh I believe you were friends several months ago but he always kept a respectful distance. Now though…" she whistled, "goddess, grant me someone who looks at me the way Lux Bonteri looks at Soniee Ordo!"

Soniee blushed and bit her lip, thinking of how she could drown in Lux's deep sea blue eyes.

"Well?" Riyo sat up, literally on the edge of her seat. "What was it that flipped the magic switch?"

"I don't know. I guess we were both sort of involved with other people back then." Or wanted to be or were afraid to be in the middle of a galactic war. "But when we ran into each other again that had changed. Everything had changed." That was an understatement but she knew Riyo didn't want to dwell on the ending of the war and the fate of the Jedi any more than she did. "He was there for me when I needed someone and I guess he feels the same."

"Awe," Riyo gushed. At least she didn't bring up the fact that they were both on the rebound and the majority of relationships that began that way didn't last. She just wanted to see someone finding happiness after all the pain and fear of the past few days and weeks and years.

"When I was… in a relationship before, it felt like home," Soniee tried to explain. "It's not quite like that with Lux. But it does feel… kind of like I'm on my way to a new place I could call home? Does that even make sense?"

The other girl nodded at her hopefully. "I think it does." She stood and took Soniee's hand to pull her up to standing as well. "And speaking of homes new or otherwise. We should be getting all of this stuff delivered back to yours." She held up the holo scanner that they had been using to choose the items that the warehouse had already boxed and ready to go as soon as they handed over the credits in the checkout line.

"You mean yours, where you are so graciously allowing me to crash?" Soniee opened the holomap again so they could attempt to find their way out of the maze like displays.

"I mean the apartment that is now in your name that we are sharing so that I don't have to pay the exorbitant _non-human _fee to stay there by myself?" Riyo practically spat.

Soniee shook her head as she pointed in the direction she thought they needed to go. "They can't do that, can they? It has to be inflation to pay for the war or something."

"Rather discriminate inflation if you ask me. I heard from some of my human neighbors that none of them got the price hike in their rent. And the price the landlords quoted you that we're splitting is nowhere near what they said I was going to have to pay."

"I thought it was just a new renter's discount or something." Soniee stopped at a junction of pathways and looked at her friend. "It's really not fair."

"And Pantorans are at least _near _human. I've heard there are other races that are being treated even worse. I thought this new Empire was supposed to unite us all." She sounded so defeated and Soniee couldn't really blame her. It reminded her of the way the clones were treated during the war as if they weren't even citizens of the Republic they were fighting and dying for.

"That's why we have to keep at it in the Senate, right?" Soniee attempted to encourage the blue skinned girl. "At least you still have a voice and we'll make sure that voice is loud and clear."

"Thanks, Soniee." Riyo nodded.

"Now… there's just one more thing I want to look for." Soniee thought she had finally found the bedding on the labyrinthine chart.

"Goddess, you're killing me!" Riyo complained but at least she was smiling again.

…

Lux arrived at the apartment at almost the same time as the delivery droids and thank Manda he had thought to bring take out from Dex's Diner. Riyo and Soniee quickly enlisted him to help with some of their new "some assembly required" purchases.

Soniee could have probably put everything together much faster on her own but the girls were having way too much fun sitting with their feet up watching him while they enjoyed their fried Meilooruns and popped open the bottle of Toniray that had been a gift from Bail and Breha Organa for the occasion of Leia's adoption and Soniee's appointment to the senate.

"Are the two of you going to save some of that for me?" Lux asked, wiping the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand.

Riyo's eyes widened in mock horror as she looked into the bag of take out pretending it was already empty. "I'm sorry. Did you want some?"

He growled at them and they laughed.

"There's still plenty." Soniee grinned at him. "And it'll be fitting payment for a job well done." She poured him a glass of the wine and held it out.

He stood, grateful for the break, and took it from her brushing her fingers none too accidentally in the process. "Is that all I'm getting after all this work?"

"We'll see."

"Goddess," Riyo teased. "If I'd known I was going to be sharing this apartment with both of you it might have been a better deal to just take the price hike."

Lux took a sip of the teal colored wine and smiled. "I'd get done a whole lot faster if someone was helping me out."

"Oh but we wouldn't want to get in the way of this system you've got going. Would we Ri?" Soniee asked innocently.

Lux sauntered over to the crate everything had been delivered in and rummaged around until he found something and tossed it into Soniee's arms. She managed to catch it without spilling her precious Toniray. Maybe it was evident of her remaining Force supplemented reflexes? She didn't like to think so.

"Make yourself useful," he instructed.

She looked down at the package of synth silk sheets that she had been so determined to find. "You think I can handle this job all on my own?" she pouted.

Lux Bonteri positively smoldered. "I'll be in to check your work when I'm done here."

"Is that a threat or a promise?" She stood from her seat gazing back at him.

He took a step towards her but Riyo got up from her seat directly between them before he could advance any further. "I think that's my signal to get to my own room and let the two of you have some privacy."

Soniee hugged the package of sheets in her arms. "I'm sorry. We didn't mean to chase you away."

"No, it's fine. Past my bedtime anyway." Riyo waved them off. "Just don't be too loud or hog the 'fresher." She placed her wine glass in the sink as she made her way to her own bedroom.

"We won't," Lux and Soniee said almost in unison and they all laughed.

"Goodnight, lovebirds."

When they were alone they weren't quite sure what to do with themselves. Finally Soniee held up the package and gestured with it towards her new bedroom. "I'll just get these on."

He swallowed, watching her go. "Yeah… I'll um… finish up what I was doing here."

He tried to keep his attention on his work. Force bless him. He screwed the same piece into the wrong place three times and smashed his finger with the spanner while trying to catch glimpses of her folding the corners with the military precision she had learned from years of academy bed checks.

When it became too much of a temptation he just left his tools where they lay and went swiftly to stand behind her. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulled her body close against his, and kissed her neck and shoulder.

She sighed at his touch, instantly leaving off her previous occupation as well.

"Seems like it's been ages since Alderaan," he breathed against her ear.

She only moaned slightly in reply as she turned in his arms to face him and accepted his kiss with one of her own.

A door opened somewhere but neither of them really noticed as they fell back onto the bed.

"Goddess! At least close the door!" Riyo did so for them on her way to the 'fresher to brush her teeth.

…

There was a moment of scrambling when Lux thought that they had once again forgotten some method of protection. And then Soniee happily informed him that she had stopped off at the drugstore on the way here from the furniture shopping adventure and had what he was looking for in the drawer of the bedside table he had assembled for her earlier that evening.

They tried to be quiet out of respect for her roommate though it was difficult when they came together with the same desperate longing that had ruled them at the palace in Aldera City. She wanted to feel alive and that there was still good in the galaxy. He wanted to feel the love of a friend that would last longer than the meaningless relationships he had tried to fill his life with thus far.

Tonight meant this wasn't a one night stand. They both wanted something more. They held each other tightly.

"You know, I respect what you're doing for Riyo." he whispered to her.

"Do you?" she asked. "Even if it means I'm not moving into your apartment?"

"Well… about that."

Soniee eyed him curiously.

"Technically you've already signed the lease agreement. You're paying half the rent…"

"Yes?"

He smiled a little guiltily. "Well you don't have to stay here all the time. You haven't even been up to see my apartment. You might like it better."

She laughed. "I never said I wouldn't come up for a visit. I just… kind of like having a place I can call my own. Other than my ship I've never really had a place I can decorate like I want to, be responsible for, kick people out of if they get too annoying."

"Are you trying to get rid of me?" Lux pouted.

"No," She kissed him. "Just that having my own place sort of makes me feel all grown up. I like being able to invite my boyfriend to stay the night."

"I very much like being your boyfriend." He kissed her back. "And I enjoy being invited to stay."

"Good because I think you might have a standing invitation as long as we don't drive Riyo crazy. And if I decide to spend some time at your place too, that would make for a bit of variety?"

"Here's to the spice of life."

…

"Wait a few weeks," Shara implored of her niece while Dalla attempted to pack her sea chest. "You can come south with me and your Uncle Jamos, and then you won't have to worry about your father finding out about the fishing schedule."

"When he finds out I changed it he won't care. Not if he can still stew about Lux. I don't know what's gotten into him."

"Your father, or Lux?"

"Both of them. It isn't like Father to hold grudges, especially when Lux had a perfectly good reason to leave when he did." Dalla bit back a scream of frustration. "He won't listen to me, Aunt Shara! It's like everything I say goes in one ear and out the other. And then _Lux…" _She rolled her eyes. "Is hooking up with some random Mando chick without a second thought?"

"Lux is in a relationship?" This was news to Shara, who didn't waste time or energy with gossip holos.

"Remember that Mandalorian representative to the Senate, Soniee Ordo?"

"Vaguely. She's dating Lux?"

Dalla nodded. "Supposedly she's Onderonian by birth and looking at her I believe it."

Shara searched for images of Soniee Ordo mostly as a smokescreen to observe Dalla. She could sense the frustration pouring off her niece as well as something else. Something like rock-hard determination.

"Are you going to see Sawyer while you're in Iziz?" She asked mock casually.

Dalla's silence was all the answer she needed and Shara's heartbeat sped up. Aye Dalla was an adult and she'd proven herself during the fight to free Onderon from the Separatists, but this was bigger than anything they'd seen before. If she stood up to the Empire under no circumstances would she emerge without consequences.

"See?" Dalla tilted Shara's comlink to get a better view of the image results. "She looks just like that stained glass of Queen Galia in the palace."

"When have you seen the stained glass?" Shara changed the subject. If Dalla had decided to go ahead with her plan then there was no talking her out of it. All she could do was pray for her safety.

"I haven't seen it in person but there's a reproduction in this picture book." Dalla pulled out the book in question and flipped through the pages when a folded piece of flimsi fluttered to the ground and landed seal up.

It hadn't been opened. Dalla's name was inked over the seal in a sure, very familiar hand. One she would never expect Dalla to have anything written in.

"What's that?" she asked, ignoring the fact that whatever it was, was in Sanjay Rash's handwriting.

Dalla snatched it up. "Just something Lux and I found."


	10. It's Quiet Uptown

While Lux is on Coruscant trying to coexist peacefully with the other senators of the new Empire back home on Onderon his old friends that he worked with during the war aren't so sure that coexistence is going to be possible. The cautious prepare for an uncertain future but for now in Iziz all is quiet.

Thanks go to Lux's Sister for her input on this chapter. In our story Polaris, she and I told of how Sanjay Rash plotted to secure his throne by a marriage alliance to the Lady of the North and through her an heir who would unite the northern and southern peoples of the planet. She was only 17 at the time and he was old enough to be her father. Thankfully for Dalla Blackwell he didn't succeed. Evidently before his death he attempted to apologize...

* * *

_My dearest Mollymauk, _with an indeterminate smudge after dearest.

Dalla stared at the first line of the letter for a long time, mentally chewing on the smudge. Had a tear fallen on the edge of the T, causing the ink to run, or had Sanjay Rash meant to write _my dearest, Mollymauk _?

It had to be a tear. She wasn't his dearest, no matter how he might have tried to delude himself into thinking it. Why Sanjay had even thought to write her a letter was a mystery. Dalla had never gotten an actual flimsi letter before. It was a deeply sentimental act, and she sure as Dxun wasn't expecting to find one in Sanjay's rooms with her name neatly printed over the seal.

She hadn't opened it for months, just carried it around with her. After seeing the contents of Sanjay's sketchbook which was made of a similarly weighted paper, she was a little scared to find out what it said.

That was until today when Saw snatched it away from her, opened it, and read it with a "Woah! Wasn't expecting that!"

"Give it back!" Dalla snatched the letter, and now here she was hung up on a smudge.

"Why don't you just read it?" Saw asked, sitting beside her.

"I can't."

"Dalla he might not have your perfect handwriting but it's still legible."

"It's not that. It's …the smudge ... I can't read it."

Saw held out his hand. "Do you want me to read it to you?"

Dalla wordlessly handed the flimsi over.

_My dearest Mollymauk, _

_If you're reading this then you're in my rooms at the palace. I don't know how you arrived here and I hope it wasn't because you were brought against your will. I know after what happened today I didn't want to pursue you any longer, and it's my wish that reading this you are safe and unharmed. _

_Please don't be frightened, either by your current reasons for being here or by the fact I started this letter with "my dearest." Thinking back on it now I don't know why I did it, but it's too late to go back and change it now. Unfortunately the same is true for most of what I've done the last six months of my life. Dalla, I don't know how I deluded myself into thinking it would be in any way permissible to force you to become my wife. It is inexcusable and I'm so glad I failed. What I have done to you is my deepest regret. I will do whatever I can, if there is anything, to make it up to you. Until then, the least I can do is explain. _

_I won't get into details for fear of confusing you, especially if I'm not here to answer your questions. But I've known you far longer than a few hours - and in a way, you have been there for me when no one else was. It's been both a puzzle and a blessing, but you remained even in some of my darkest hours (the events today on the palace steps notwithstanding). Like a mollymauk promising an end to a long voyage, your voice promised me a future. I couldn't tell if it was good or bad, but it was there. _

_I hadn't felt that since Shara left me or even before that, when my sister died. Some part of me thought that by having you as my wife I could replicate what had been when Melaana was alive. You remind me a great deal of her, and maybe if she was here I wouldn't have gone down the path I did. She was going to have a baby, who would have been about your age. Maybe in a different life, a better life, you could have been friends. Maybe we could have met under better circumstances. _

_I hope you won't remember me too cruelly, at least not more than I'm due. I am so sorry for everything I've done, and everything that's happened to you because of me. Let this letter this letter act as what your voice was to me - a mollymauk promising an end to the fear and sorrow that has no doubt loomed over your life since I asked for your hand. _

_Sincerely, _

_Sanjay Rash _

"Damn," Saw whistled. "What do you think of that?"

"It sounds like something Ahsoka would say, or one of the other Jedi." she blinked. "But it's _Sanjay. _How does that make sense?"

"It doesn't." Saw pointed to a line of text. "I think he's saying he wanted you to be happy, which doesn't follow from the Rash we know."

_Not the Rash you know. _But Sanjay, dying on the palace floor, had shown concern for her safety. He'd wanted her to make it back to her family, and for her to have a family to make it back to. She could see that man writing this cryptic letter.

"He called me 'Mollymauk,'" she said. "Mollymauks are my favorite bird. How did he know that?"

"Got a HoloNet page? Maybe he stalked you."

"No." She didn't have a HoloNet presence for this very reason but that wasn't it. Somehow she knew Sanjay didn't know that fact about her through any natural means. For a second she considered Nadd sorcery but that didn't seem right either.

"Well then…" Saw seemed to nix the very same idea. "Look it doesn't matter how he got it. He's dead now, and his whole family. He's not gonna bother you again."

She laughed humorlessly. "Not like their replacement is much better."

Saw regarded her carefully, and seemed pleased by what he saw. "What do you say to helping replace the replacements?"

Dalla briefly considered a trap but dismissed the idea. If anyone would be leading a resistance against the Empire, it was Saw Gerrera, and he was the last person to be used as a plant. "Wouldn't be my first round of committing treason." She sighed. "Got somewhere more private we can discuss things?"

"There is a place, but it isn't mine. Remember Hutch from back in the day?"

It was kind of hard to forget Hutch. He was an over-the-top grocery store clerk with a wicked ability to slice systems. The second the Separatists left Onderon he proposed to Hero, an equally loudmouthed restaurateur. Dalla had managed to make it to their wedding and observe their HoloNet famous dance down the aisle in person. "The HoloNet makes sure I do."

"Their restaurant serves some killer bantha burgers. Care to grab one?"

"As a matter of fact I would."

The restaurant was deserted when they arrived. Hutch's head snapped from his computer at the sound of the door opening and grinned. "I knew it."

"You don't know anything, Hutch."

Hutch ignored him. "Babe, Saw and Dalla are here - together!"

_"I knew it!" _came victoriously from the kitchen.

"As friends!" Dalla yelled in Hero's general direction.

"Yeah you go on saying that." Hero St. James bustled out of the kitchen and grabbed two menus. "Grab a table. Anywhere in the house! So what's new?"

"Not much. Officially I'm here on shore leave, unofficially I'm avoiding my father complaining about Lux."

"Since when does your dad have an issue with Lux?"

"Since Lux didn't stop by to visit with him on the way to a very important Senate session."

"But...that's…"

"Reasonable? Aye, I know. Father's convinced he made it up." Dalla sighed. "I hate to say it, but Saw's acting more reasonable than he is."

"Hey!" Saw said in mock offense.

"I should take a holo for posterity," Hutch muttered. "Saw acting reasonable."

Saw made a face and then grew serious. "As much as I'd love to pose for that holo we're actually here for other reasons. We need to talk to the Cashier and Waitress from Hell."

Hutch wordlessly got up from the table and flipped over the sign in the window to CLOSED. He grabbed his datapad on the way back and sat down. "Welcome to the Dark Side, Dalla."

Hero grinned. "We have cookies."

"I'll gladly come to the dark side if it means working with you guys." Dalla scooted over in the booth so Hero could fit beside her. "Though it seems you were pretty organized without me."

"What do you know at this point?" Saw asked.

"Nothing." She wouldn't bother lying. "Comm reception up north is osik. I only found out the Empire existed days after the fact and that was only because Lux commed me."

"We'll have to get you some other signal. You can show me your hardware later." Hutch scribbled a note to himself on a napkin.

Saw had other concerns. "Does Lux know you're here?"

She shook her head. "He only had time to fill me in about the Empire before he had to leave for Coruscant. But not before he managed to drop the bomb that he's dating that Soniee Ordo."

"Uh, that's old news." Hero produced a gossip holozine as evidence. "Everyone thought she died on Concord Dawn but evidently she's been on Alderaan this whole time pregnant with his kid."

"It wasn't his."

Hero smirked. "You're jealous!"

"No, I'm not, the baby wasn't Ordo's either."

Hutch raised an eyebrow, casting a look to the passionate kiss on the cover of the holozine. "You sure about that?"

She had to be. Lux would never lie to her.

"Look, Dalla's all red!" Hero cackled.

Dalla actually turned red at that. "I am not!"

"You're going to have to do better than that if you want to work with us." Saw's face was serious but he had a hand over his mouth to hide his laughter

"Aye, let's get back to that." Dalla lightly smacked him and sat back down. "I think my best bet is to keep a low profile. If the northern navy is still active I can use it as cover to move supplies and credits."

"Dalla Blackwell, smuggler?"

She wasn't planning to move only material goods. "Something like that, I guess."

Hutch shrugged. "Just as long as you're not smuggling yourself into Lux's room. That Mando girl looks like she could kick some shebs."

"You'd better run, babe!" Hero chuckled and scooted away from Dalla. "That's the look she gave Dono during the kitchen thing."

"Don't worry Hutch, for your safety or otherwise. Lux and I are just friends. That's all we have ever been. And that's all we have ever wanted to be. I'm... happy for him." Dalla didn't know if she was trying to convince them, or herself. But going off the way Saw was looking at the holozine cover this was the end of their worries about her. "Saw?"

Saw didn't respond until Hutch kicked him. "Yeah?" He pushed the 'zine away after sneaking one last look.

"Bonteri better look out for his girl," Hutch whistled.

Saw shot him a look. "We're not here to exchange celebrity gossip. We're here to see what Dalla can bring to the table." He looked to Dalla. "So, you can move things. What else do you have in your arsenal?"

"There is something else," she said slowly. "More like some_ one _else. She's unconventional, but she gets results."

_She _was Cassia Thackory, wannabe whore and professional ear-hustler at Blackhold Isle's brothel.

As Sloan Murphy's adoptive sister(salt gods did it hurt just to think about him) Dalla spent a fair amount of time growing up at the brothel. All the girls loved Sloan, as he was respectful and paid well, and their affections extended to her. They taught her how to dress and put on makeup and how to knock a man to his knees with one punch while her brother was upstairs or heading that way. And she was there the day Sloan paid for three hours of Maggy's time without so much as holding her hand, while Maggy told him she'd just gotten custody of her half sister and didn't know what to do.

It had been a rollercoaster from there. Cassia, with her charm and excellent hearing, fit in at the brothel a little too well for her sister's tastes. Lately, Maggy told Dalla while they were both nursing a pint at the pub, Cassia had been trying to convince her to let her take customers too.

"She's just trying to help," Dalla said. Maggy and Cassia's financial situation was no secret.

"I know she is but the way she's doing it is 31 flavors of wrong!" Maggy burst out. "She thinks she wants this but I know she'll regret it if she does."

"I can have a talk with her if you want," Dalla offered.

"What would really help is if you took her to Iziz with you. Please. Please just take her, so I don't have to deal with her. Maybe if she sees some more of the world she'll know she doesn't want to be stuck in this salt gods forsaken place."

So Dalla had. Partly as a favor to her friend. Partly because you never knew when you could use a good spy.

"Can you get her on board?" Saw asked.

"Shouldn't be a problem."

"Then I think that's it," Hutch said. "I can get you set up with comms and all that. I just need a name for my records."

"What do you suggest?"

"Anything that's not your real name. I don't know, look around and pick something."

"Mollymauk," Saw suggested.

Dalla bristled, Sanjay's letter burning in her pocket. "Does that fit with what you call yourself?"

"Sorta," he said and smiled sadly. "I'm Southern Whore."

_Steela. _That was the name she'd taken and turned into a badge of pride, and now that Dalla thought about it of course Saw would choose that name.

"Aye," she said. "Call me Mollymauk."


	11. Tryin' To Watch The Show

Life goes on on Coruscant as it does in Iziz and for this one it might have been helpful to have read The Ashla Awareness chapter 22. It was a little scene I added that took place during the action of Ashla Spectrum when Soniee was on Coruscant spending her spare time with Lux and Commander Fox and she was given a pair of tickets to the Republic Bard Company's production of Othniel (that would be the Star Wars equivalent to Shakespeare's Othello ((still need to write the backstory of the Bard of Chandrila. it's on my list.)) )

anyway once again Soniee and her friends are about to experience a night at the theater! enjoy the show!

* * *

Soniee would have been lying if she had said she wasn't enjoying this new life as an independent adult. She loved shopping for her own food and having her boyfriend over for meals and watching holos and staying after. She enjoyed going over to his place any time she liked without having to ask permission. She even enjoyed her work in the senate and the three committees she had joined for the betterment of the galaxy or at least she hoped they'd be accomplishing something positive. They were all very optimistic despite the shadow that had seemed to hang over everything since the ending of the war, and the jedi.

When things got too quiet were the times when she felt the emptiness left behind. The loss of all those Force sensitive beings and of… her husband. That was probably why she sought out so much action and noise whenever possible. It filled the emptiness at least somewhat.

At least she wasn't resorting to drink or styms or death sticks. She and Lux were taking precautions and she had good friends beside her. And all the little business matters of housekeeping were a brilliant distraction.

For whatever reason, the receiving of plain ordinary flimsi mail was especially pleasing. Even if it was addressed to Riyo instead of herself, or the current resident advertisements, it was still fun to go through the pile of deliveries every time she entered the apartment.

Today when she got home there were two letters addressed to her among the other post that looked to be neither advertisements or spam.

"If it's from that holo tabloid asking for an interview again, you should really tell him to kriff off," Riyo said entering the apartment behind her with arms loaded down with groceries.

"Actually I was thinking about accepting and telling him a load of osik about how I fought a mythosaur and nearly died before Lux came to my rescue." Soniee turned over the letter and looked at the back. "But no, this one is from Senator Organa." She slit open the envelope and shook out the contents. "That's kind of funny. He could have just commed."

"What did he say?" Riyo asked, taking a break from putting food away and popping open a can of fizzy juice.

She skimmed the carefully penned text. "He's inviting me to lunch next week to see how I'm doing. That's sweet. I don't know why he didn't just ask though. I see him almost every day in the senate sessions. He could have easily pulled me aside before or after and said something."

"He does tend to be very formal. Maybe he was just trying to be polite."

Soniee nodded and looked at the second envelope.

"What's that one?" Riyo gestured with the can in her hand.

"This one's more mysterious." She grinned. "No return address." But the stationery still looked every bit as professional as the letter from the senator.

Riyo laughed. "It's probably an advertisement for speeder insurance. They're getting more creative."

"No it's…" Soniee emptied the contents of the envelope into her hand. There were three rectangular cards and a sheet of flimsi from which she read. "_I would like to invite you and a date and your roommate to an upcoming performance of the Republic Bard Company_. It's for both of us!"

"And Lux." Riyo came over to examine the tickets. "But who is it from?"

Soniee shrugged. "No name but Chairman Papanoida got tickets for me once before. He must have heard that I was back in Galactic City and that we were rooming together and wanted to extend another invitation."

"He didn't say anything to me about it but I wouldn't say no to these. They're prime seats!"

"The last show I saw with Lux and Fox was phenomenal!" Soniee took the tickets from Riyo and put them back in the envelope and placed it in their file of important flimsi docs and bills. Then she picked up a stylus and inked in the date on the calendar they kept on the wall above it.

"Maybe he just wants to thank you for decreasing the Pantoran budget by sharing the rent." Riyo laughed again.

"Just means we have more to spend on our dresses for the evening!"

"And that means…"

"Shopping!"

…

"I thank you for agreeing to join me for lunch today." Bail Organa in his formal senate robes sat on the park bench and peeled back the flimsiplast wrapper from the fast food salad wrap before taking a bite. His eyes widened at the first taste and he went immediately for another.

"This is actually very good," he commented after swallowing and wiping his mouth politely with a napkin.

"Yes, it is." Soniee smiled and took a bite of her own nerf burger. She supposed that the viceroy of Alderaan hadn't had much reason to eat speeder fly through meals in his pampered life. "Just wait till you try the fries." She was going to get him addicted and Breha would never forgive her.

"I'm glad you suggested the restaurant. I wouldn't have even thought to choose such a place." He held a fry between his noble fingers and studied it before taking a bite. Again his face brightened at the taste.

She laughed. "Try the dipping sauce."

He did so and was instantly hooked.

Soniee watched with amusement before she worked up the nerve to inquire. "May I ask why we're meeting here rather than in your office?" She knew there had to be a reason for the a'la carte situation and felt he would rather she come right out than beat around the bush.

He held up a finger for her to wait while he sampled one more fry with the special sauce and almost daintily wiped his lips with the flimsi napkin again before he spoke. "I believe I'm being monitored."

"That's why you sent the invitation by regular post?" she surmised.

"Yes, I admit you are correct. It was a bit of a test to see how far the monitoring goes but no one knew that we were meeting before we left for the fly through so I'm fairly sure that means of communication is still secure."

"Is there something you'd like me to do? Look into it for you?"

Bail studied her with a smile. "Yes, that is exactly what I was hoping for. The Duchess once regaled a group of us with a tale of how you and your friends broke into a government warehouse to uncover the corruption of one of your high ranking officials. She said that she hoped you were always on her side because she knew that you had a talent for slicing into areas where you had no business being."

Soniee blushed at the praise for her past naughtiness. "It was only in the service of the greater good but I suppose, yes, I've always had a way with tech." She took another fry from the container but she didn't bring it to her lips just yet. "Is there some reason why you couldn't have one of your droids hack and secure the system?"

"Well, that's just it. I don't want whoever it might be to know that I'm on to them. If I had my droids look into it someone is sure to notice. I need someone who can cover their tracks and maybe even find a way for me to… monitor the monitors?" Bail looked inquisitively at her and then down at the fries and then back up into her face with a smile. "Have I judged correctly in my assumption that you would be up to the job?"

She handed him the container. "I'll do my best. I'm sure I can get in and out of the system without being detected. Discovering who it is who's monitoring you will be a bit more difficult if they're any decent sort of hacker but I should be able to at least set up some kind of alert so you know when they're in your system and maybe set up a secure system on the side so you can only allow them to monitor what you want them to see."

"That would be amazing," he said with his mouth full of fry. He put his hand in front of his mouth while he finished chewing and swallowed. "Please excuse me. What you've described is exactly what I was hoping for."

She suppressed a giggle at the unguarded viceroy's behavior. "I'll need a holo device that has access to your systems."

"I have one here." He pulled a unit from a pocket in his robes and just as he did a paparazzi holo cam buzzed by them, seemingly interested in the exchange.

Bail must have expected this. The image on the device was of his daughter Leia. He showed it to her proudly without missing a beat.

Soniee gushed at the image and took the device from him when he offered it to her. "Thank you so much for showing me this." For all the galaxy it may have appeared as if he were giving her an update on the condition of her own baby that his wife was caring for back on Alderaan. "Can I keep this, to show Lux?" she asked loud enough for the holo cam to pick up her words.

"I would be glad for you to."

The holocam buzzed away with its own tasty morsel to chew on and Soniee laughed. She powered down the device and tucked it into her shoulder bag. "I'll get to work on this right away for you," she promised.

"Thank you. And Soniee," He paused a moment in deliberation before pressing on. "If you… find the work agreeable perhaps I could find more for you to do in the future?"

She realized then that this wasn't just a one-time hack job. He was testing her for something much bigger. She remembered the conversations they'd had back in his office at the palace in Aldera. She knew where his convictions lay and she knew she could work alongside him toward those aims. She just had to provide a secure network for them to communicate with allies to their cause.

"Yes." She nodded. "I'd like that."

…

Lux let out a long whistle as Soniee spun around in her new dress the night of the play. "That's not something of the duchess's remade."

The gossamer gown with a plunging neckline was a shade of olive green that matched her eyes exactly. "You like it?" she asked the obvious. He looked amazing in his tux as well but then he always did.

Lux wrapped an arm around her waist and drew her close, whispering a growl in her ear. "I'd like to see what it looks like on the floor next to my bed."

"Just you wait," she whispered back and then freed herself from his embrace with a sensuous smile. "I think you'll want to see this play. The tickets must have cost a small fortune."

"I still don't see why he included me." Riyo said and smoothed the silk of her own pink, beautifully fitted gown. She had grown used to the antics of the couple. She largely ignored them when they didn't directly interfere with her personal space in the apartment.

Lux gave Soniee a conspiratorial nod before he swept forward and took Riyo's hand and kissed it. "I for one am glad he did. I'll be the envy of every man there with two stunningly gorgeous ladies on my arms."

"You're a cad, Lux Bonteri, but I'll accept the compliment only because I don't have a date of my own to tell me pretty lies like yours."

He went back to Soniee with a mock hurt expression on his face. "Was I lying, my love?"

"No, he wasn't." Soniee smiled honestly at her. "You do look beautiful. Now let's go before we're late for the curtain."

...

The arrival of the three senators at the theater did not go unnoticed. Soniee would have thought in a galaxy in which it was common for many species to take more than one spouse that most occupants and visitors to the capital wouldn't bat an eyelash at Lux Bonteri escorting two beautiful females. But this was Lux Bonteri of Onderon, known ex-playboy since he had become the one and only to the one and only Senator Soniee Ordo of Mandalore. Except maybe she wasn't his one and only. He had been seen coming and going from the apartment that she shared with Senator Riyo Chuchi of Pantora, and now the three of them were out together.

"Oh Manda." Soniee whispered with a roll of her green eyes.

"What is it?" Lux laughed, waving at someone they knew casually from the senate.

"I can just see tomorrow's headline, _Senators from Onderon, Mandalore, and Pantora Come Out Officially as a Threesome_." Soniee set it off in air quotes but spoke only for the two of them to hear her.

Riyo snorted. "I put up with you two, and love you dearly, but not like that."

They showed their tickets at the box office but no mention was made of their beneficiary when they made their way up the richly ornamented staircase and through a corridor to their private balcony. It was near the box where Soniee had seen "Othniel" with Lux and Fox but she didn't think it was the same one.

She looked at the number on her ticket again and then a bit down the hall and saw not Notluwiski Papanoida but instead his son, Ion. And it hit her at once where they were. This was his family's personal box.

Soniee remembered from their previous encounter, Ion had told her the story of the 'princess' of Onderon whom his father had fallen in love with and nearly left his family for. The chairman himself had said that Soniee resembled this princess and it was mainly for this reason that he had given her the tickets in the first place. However after the show at the cast party Ion had expressed an interest if things didn't work out in her current relationship, the two of them might see each other again.

He had to know that she and Lux were… serious. But when she saw him now waiting at the door to the box his gaze slipped right past her… to Riyo. Ion bowed without taking his eyes off Senator Chuchi.

"Greetings. I'm so glad you could… all of you…" he finally acknowledged that Lux and Soniee were there as well, "could make it."

Riyo held out her gloved hand to Ion and he took it and kissed it. "Thank you for the tickets," she said in not much more than a whisper.

Lux grinned at Soniee and Soniee said softly back to him, "Remember what you used to say about being the extra speeder thruster when you were out with Fox and me?"

Ion might have heard or he might not. Either way he was blushing a charming shade of violet just for being in Riyo's presence. "I'm sorry for the subterfuge. I've wanted to ask Senator Chuchi to go out with me for some time but my father expressed that it might be a conflict of interest since he's the chairman of the moon and you represent us in the senate." He addressed her directly as if in apology.

"No one seems to mind that senators from two different planets are dating." Lux squeezed Soniee's hand and she smirked back at him.

_Yeah_ dating _was all it was_, she thought sarcastically but she said aloud, "And Senator Organa is married to the queen of his planet."

Riyo and Ion both blushed violet at that. He still hadn't let go of her hand, Soniee noticed, and he cleared his throat. "Shall we go in and take our seats?"

"Yes, thank you, Ion." Riyo said politely and allowed him to escort her through the door. She threw a look back at the other two that said something like, _Don't mess this up for me!_

Lux gave her a thumbs up and Soniee shoved her own date forward into the box.

...

The four of them actually got along quite well. Though they couldn't talk during the performance, during the intermission and after the show they conversed like they were all old friends. There were moments when Ion and Riyo dropped accidentally into their own Pantoran language and then one of them would apologize and politely translate what had been said.

Lux leaned over to Soniee at one point during the evening and asked her quietly, "So you're coming back to my place tonight so they can have the apartment to themselves?"

She swatted his arm. "We'll let them decide. I don't want to leave Riyo without an escape if she's not ready for that."

He nodded conspiratorially, though she knew he was probably hoping that she would come home with him, and suggested that they all go out for ice cream together.

While they were out still in their fancy theater clothes the holocams buzzed around them like mad. Riyo laughed, unconcerned and having the time of her life. "Well, your father surely knows by now that you invited me out on a date."

"I don't think he'll mind so much as we have such excellent chaperones." Ion grinned at her, clearly besotted.

"Oh that reminds me." Soniee took a small holo unit out of her hand bag. Maybe it was the mention of she and Lux being _excellent chaperones_ that brought it to her mind. "Bail gave me this to show to you." She flicked on the image for Lux to see and he reacted almost as she had when he saw it.

"Leia! She's grown! Isn't she beautiful?" he held out the projection for Riyo and Ion to get a closer look.

Ion cleared his throat a bit uncomfortably, "She's your…"

"Not really," Soniee informed him quietly.

"But she is partly responsible for the two of us… finally getting together." Lux's gaze fixed on Soniee. "I never would have had cause to be on Alderaan at the same time you were if I hadn't been invited to the name day ceremony."

"I guess that's true." She deactivated the device and put it back into her handbag. She couldn't lose it. Soniee was just itching to dive into the puzzle that Bail had set for her but for now she turned her attention back to the others.


	12. Someone Like You to Lighten the Load

the theater was fun but now Soniee has a job that she promised to do after a little girl talk with her roommate

* * *

special thanks to OKami_hu and oksammich co-authors of the story "Best of Blue" (on AO3) who allowed me to include their original character, Nova in this narrative!

also thanks again to Lux's Sister for letting me borrow the Cashier and Waitress from Hell and for being the bestest co-author i could ever hope for!

* * *

It was as Soniee suspected. Riyo wasn't ready for Ion to be an overnight guest just yet but she did need a little girl talk after the young men dropped them off at their apartment. That also meant that Lux had to be disappointed in the conclusion of the evening but Soniee promised she'd make it up to him and they did manage a few moments alone while Riyo and Ion were saying their goodbyes and, Riyo informed her later, shared their first kiss.

The girls stayed up talking and giggling for a couple more hours after their dates had left. Riyo told her that she and Ion had known each other for years. There had been an attraction there but neither of them had ever pursued anything because, like he had said, they had wanted to keep things on a professional level. Now though, with the galaxy turned upside down, it seemed anything was possible. If Soniee and Lux were willing to make a go of their mutual affection, then maybe it was time for Riyo and Ion to not worry what anyone else said about them and just enjoy being together.

And then she had confided something that Soniee had never expected. "You and Lux have joked about what it was like when you were here on Coruscant before, that he felt like he was a chaperone to you and Commander Fox. I understand what that's like being in a relationship that you can't tell anyone about. There was a clone trooper who I had feelings for as well."

Soniee knew she couldn't have been the only one who had fallen or nearly fallen for one of the protectors of the Republic but it was a shock to her even so. She knew without having to ask, that to Riyo the clone with whom she had been involved, had been an individual with his own thoughts and feelings and personality. Soniee wondered if she had met him. "What was his name?"

"Sergeant CG-0113…" she began but she saw the look on Soniee's face. "Nova. His name was Nova." Riyo sighed at the memory. "He was so sweet and innocent despite all the … being trained from birth to fight and kill beings. I didn't think it was fair that he should have to go through his short life without having something beautiful."

"Well if he had you, he certainly had something beautiful," Soniee teased.

Riyo threw a shoe at her which Soniee dodged with a laugh.

"What about you and Fox?" Riyo turned the tables.

"We…" Soniee blushed, "never got that far."

Her roommate scoffed at her in disbelief.

"We got pretty close." Soniee admitted. "But a friend commed just at the wrong… or maybe the right time. After that we realized that neither of us had thought about… protection."

Riyo winced in sympathy and then grew serious again. "But you know what happened to him after the war?"

Had she overheard Soniee and Lux talking about him? Oh well, she supposed she could trust Riyo. She nodded. "That friend who commed while we were…" She raised her eyebrows.

Riyo indicated for her to continue.

"He married her and adopted her baby boy."

"He didn't!"

"He did." The thought made Soniee nostalgic for home. "I think they're very happy together. She almost died in battle but she…" _Korkie saved her. Korkie died so that she could live_.

Whether Riyo knew that part of the story or not she noticed the emotion and spoke more softly. "Fox married a soldier. Sounds like his perfect match."

Soniee swallowed back tears and smiled sadly. "He stayed home with the baby while she fought in the battle."

"That's incredible." Riyo shook her head. "I wish I knew what happened to Nova. Or I don't know, maybe I don't."

"It wasn't their fault, the clone troopers. They were conditioned to follow orders."

"I know." Riyo stated more soberly. "But knowing that sort of makes it even more sad. They didn't have a choice."

They both sat quietly for a while lost in their own thoughts till Soniee attempted to bring them both out of it. "So what about Ion? He went to a lot of trouble just to ask you out."

"Yes, he did." Her smile returned. Maybe she was thinking about that kiss. She was definitely thinking about that goodnight kiss.

"Did you know that he was planning something?" Soniee asked.

"I had no idea. It was a complete surprise." Riyo snuggled down into her chair. "A delightful surprise. Do you think it was a one-time thing or he'll try to keep me on my toes?"

"You know him better than I do. But he seemed pretty obsessed with winning you over and keeping you interested."

Riyo sighed happily. "I don't know him as well as I'd like to. I mean I didn't think it would be a good idea to have him stay over on a first date but… It made me think that I would like to be prepared if that does become an eventuality."

"You want to get the hypo," Soniee realized.

"Will you go with me?" Riyo sat back up and beseeched her friend. "I don't want to go to the med center by myself. And with you and Lux… well, it would make sense to just take care of things. So that there's not another little Leia for the galaxy to gossip about?"

Soniee threw a couch pillow at her roommate. "You know she's not really ours. And we're careful, but if you don't want to go alone, I suppose I could tag along." The mention of the Organas' baby girl reminded her of the holo device and the promise she had made to take a look at Bail's file systems.

"Thank you, Soniee." Riyo rose from her chair and yawned. "And now I go to my bed perchance to dream of my sweet Ion." And she danced dramatically from the living room.

Soniee watched her roommate go, smiling. She would have to think about that hypo idea. Maybe it would make things easier. For now she picked up her handbag, opened it and pulled out the holo unit.

"Well, Mister Senator, Viceroy of Alderaan, lets see who wants so badly to delve into your personal business." She went to her own room and cleared a space at the desk she had purchased a few weeks before and watched Lux struggle to assemble for her. She grabbed her old display visor and her tools and got right to work.

This was her happy place, deep in the midst of wires and circuits and networks and streams of data. Before she had really even realized it, she looked up at her bedroom window and saw that the sun was rising over Galactic City.

She would be useless in the Senate meetings today but she'd uncovered some useful information. What Bail Organa had suspected was almost surely a government wiretap. He must have aroused the suspicions of someone in high places as being friendly with the Jedi before the end of the war.

The bug was easily bypassed. The Empire could continue to shuffle through what they assumed were all of the Viceroy's personal files and be none the wiser of the system she had set in place in the shadow of the original. She would just have to explain to him how the two systems were arranged so that he could continue to feed the Empire what they wanted or needed to see and hear while keeping those things private that he wanted to stay private.

The thing that Soniee found most interesting, however, was that someone seemed to have set a bug on the bug and the more she looked into it the more she was intrigued by the design. Maybe it was some latent Force ability that caused her to instinctively believe that this other hacker was not malicious in their intent. Or maybe it was just a case of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend."

Having finished her first objective, Soniee knew what she really needed was sleep, so sleep is what she did.

…

In the middle of the night somewhere in the city of Iziz, Hutch St. James was awakened by an alert tone from his comm unit.

He groaned and fumbled for the device, hating himself for programming whatever it was to go off at all hours. That is, until he read the alert and was instantly wide awake. He grabbed his emergency bag of cheese curls and plopped down at his data center.

"Babe, what are you doing?" Hero asked groggily. "It's three in the morning."

"Somebody's tagged my spyware," he replied not even looking up from the computer. "I don't know if they're Imperial or credit-grabbing or what, but I don't like it."

Hero sighed. "Knock yourself out. I'm going back to bed."

"Love you babe," He said over his shoulder before zeroing in on his work. Looked like the other hacker hadn't actually tried to do anything, but whoever they were they'd left him just enough of their signature that he could target their system with a virus. It didn't take long for him to write one up. Something that sent a very strong message to stay away from the Cashier From Hell.

"Fly, my pretties," he whispered deviously as he sent the virus across cyberspace. _"Fly." _

...

"Good morning, sleeping beauty. Or perhaps I should say good afternoon." Lux was leaning over her nuzzling her ear.

When Soniee turned her head, he caught her lips with his own and kissed her deeply. After a few seconds he broke away and smiled at her. Her eyes were just beginning to flutter open.

"Ah, awoken by true love's kiss."

"What time is it?" She asked him, rolling toward the chrono on her bedside table to check for herself.

"You've slept half the day away."

"Manda! I missed the morning session!" Soniee sat up. "I needed to speak to Senator Organa about something."

Lux remained sitting on the edge of her bed with an amused expression while she jumped up and started to get dressed without seeming to notice that he was there staring at her. She didn't care if he did anyway. He had certainly seen her wearing much less than her pajamas.

He got a little bored once she had pulled her shirt on over her head and there was less bare skin for him to ogle at. "You didn't miss much. They're still arguing about the policing of trade routes in the expansion region."

He wandered over to her desk and sat in the chair she had occupied for most of the night. "Have you been shopping on the holonet on Almec's credits again?"

Lux picked up her holo device and grinned at the text on the screen. "I do hope you ordered something else like that dress you wore last night. I mean chick-a-plow!" He laughed.

"Let me see that." Soniee made a grab for the holo device but he stood and held it behind his back, until she would give him a kiss and ask nicely.

She indulged him before she held out her hand and said, "Please."

"There, that wasn't so hard." He gave her the device but when she turned her back to him to see what he had found so interesting he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close.

She did her best to ignore him as she read the text. "_You've been checked out!_"

"Kriff," she swore. She'd been hacked.

"Well, I mean, if you really want to…" Lux laughed.

"No, that's not what I meant." She pulled away from him, suddenly all business and sat at her desk typing furiously. "It's what I was working on for Senator Organa last night. If they discovered that the original bug had been tampered with…" she initiated a series of searches on Bail's files both the originals and the copies she had worked so hard to build, while simultaneously running a sweep on her own systems.

"So this is what had you up so late burning the midnight brylk oil." Lux used what must have been an old Onderonian saying because it didn't make any sense to her.

She wasn't really paying attention to what he was saying anyway. She scanned a few more parameters and then sighed with relief. "Thank Manda!"

"What is it?" He asked now that he could see the imminent crisis had been averted.

She could tell him the basics. "Senator Organa had a bug in his system but he didn't want the party who placed the bug to know that he knew he was on to them."

"So what was the emergency?" He asked again only slightly understanding the techno babble.

How did she put it so that he could understand? "In short, I was hacked while I was working on the problem and I was afraid it would give away the game to whoever placed the bug in Bail's system, which was what I was trying to avoid."

"But it wasn't given away?"

"No." She stood and hugged him. "Thankfully Senator Organa's files weren't touched, only mine." It was frankly annoying. She was better at this than to be bested at her own game.

"So did you lose… a lot of data?" He wasn't sure exactly how to ask what damage had been done.

Soniee put on a look of mock offense. "Of course not. I have my files backed up in about ten different places. It'll be fairly easy to fix, if a little time consuming, especially when there are things I'd rather be doing."

"Like me," Lux said without breaking a smile.

She smirked at him. "Like taking a look at your file systems to make sure you aren't being bugged like certain other senators."

"You are welcome to take a look at anything of mine. I'm an open holo."

Soniee laughed. She glanced at the comm unit on the desk again to check the progress of her system sweep. She must have been staring at it a moment too long because Lux began to get jealous.

"I'm beginning to think you like that thing more than me."

"Well that was one sexy little virus that hacker laid on me, the code and the syntax." She licked her lips and rolled her eyes.

In another instant, Lux had her on her back on her bed and was leaning over her. "I'll give you code and syntax." He kissed her roughly.

She giggled when he let her get her breath. "I'll be looking forward to it. But we should probably get back to the senate building. I'd hate to miss the afternoon session after sleeping through the morning one."

"Alright." Lux kissed her once more, disappointedly, and as he rose from her bed he not so accidentally rubbed up against her in ways that made her want to pull him right back down on top of her again. "The senate calls."

He offered a hand to help her up. She took it and rose and then went to her desk once more. "Just let me finish this really quick."

He groaned as he watched her but he knew what she was doing was important. He stepped up behind her again and unable to control himself wrapped his arms around her.

She kept working on the unit with a smile on her face.

"Your hands are like lightning." He whispered close to her ear.

She stopped and stood still for a moment. His words had reminded her of the blue lightning that had once streamed from her fingers when the dark side of the Force had overpowered her back when she could still use the Force, back when her emotions would get the better of her and people like Lux would be hurt by her inexperience and lack of control. "_Kebiin Tracinya_," she said softly.

"What's that?" he asked.

"It's Mando'a. It means 'blue flame'," she answered.

"Say it again," he breathed against her neck.

"_Kebiin Tracinya_."

"Tracinya," he repeated. "Sounds a little like an Onderonian name."

"Thinking of names for Leia's little sibling someday?" she teased.

"No," he denied at first and spun her around to face him. "Unless you were interested in trying…"

"No," she laughed. "Not anytime soon."

He nodded in agreement. "Tracinya," he said once more. "It just suits you."

"Alright then." she struck a few more keys on the holo unit in her hands.

"Alright?" he inquired.

"I sent the hacker a little return message and I signed it Kebiin Tracinya."

…

Lux and Soniee made it to the afternoon Senate session, just barely and parted ways in the corridor to enter their separate pods.

"After this is over…" he pointed at her and then at himself. "You and me, my place!"

"That's the plan." She waved before she disappeared behind her pod door.

Alas, the plan was not to be carried out. As soon as the session let out for the evening Senator Organa needed an update on the work Soniee had completed on his file systems. They had to meet all the way down in her office which she assured him she had swept for bugs before she explained the two levels of security that he could choose between when sharing information. She also brought up her concern about the second hacker but assured him that whoever was on the other side of that virus that was placed on her system didn't seem to pose a threat to the security of the data and might even be fishing for like-minded individuals who were being targeted by the bug like the one that had been placed on the Viceroy's system by the Empire.

Lux waited rather impatiently outside the office while this interview took place. Before he could whisk Soniee away to some alone time however, another interruption jumped in front of his place in the que. Riyo didn't even seem to notice him as she breezed in through the door that Bail had just exited.

This conversation obviously didn't need the same level of secrecy as the first. The door was left ajar. Lux however still waited outside, giving the roommates a measure of privacy, not that he didn't hear every word of the excited dialogue.

"He asked me out again tonight!"

There was a girlish squeal of delight.

"So are you worried about it just being the two of you without me and Lux?"

"Well, no," Riyo admitted, her face was probably turning that charming shade of violet that Ion had seemed to admire so much the evening before. "I just… want to be prepared if things go really well."

"And…" Soniee surmised. "You'd like me to go to the med center with you?"

"If you don't mind." Riyo's voice pleaded. "From what we talked about last night it sounded like you might want to go through with it as well."

_Go through with what?_ Lux thought to himself. _At the med center?_ And then it dawned on him what a female would need just in case a date with a male of the species went _really well_. He and Soniee had been careful. They always used protection but those hypo things could last for years. Surely she would discuss it with him before she did something like that.

He had liked seeing her hold baby Leia back on Alderaan and hearing her joke about naming a little sibling for Leia, even though she wasn't really theirs, it had sort of got him thinking about what it would be like to have a little one of their own…

"Well, Lux and I…" Soniee began and then gave in. "No, of course I don't mind. If you want me to go with you, I'd be glad to. What are roommates for?"

"Oh thank you," Riyo gushed.

And by the muffled, "no problem," he thought Riyo had probably wrapped Soniee in an excited hug. "Just let me finish up with this one last thing and then we can head over there."

Lux leaned against the wall in a defeated sort of way. Should he wait and at least say something to them before they left for the med center or just go and get some dinner on his own and try to catch up with Soniee later? He did want to ask her about that hypo thing though. He thought he should have some say in the decision. Or maybe not. It was her body. They hadn't made any kind of long term commitment to each other… yet.

Unifras! There had to be somebody he could talk to about this! Saw? Hutch? Dalla… He could comm Dalla! She was a girl! Maybe she could help him understand what was going on in Soniee's head!

When Riyo and Soniee finally exited the office, he was smiling again. He had a plan. He was going to comm his best friend and she would know exactly what he should do.

Soniee frowned at him and stood on her toes to give him an apologetic kiss. "I'm so sorry I've kept you waiting. I'm afraid it's going to be a little longer. There's something I need to help Riyo out with and then… I'll meet you back at your place?" She gave her roommate a little encouraging smile over her shoulder and then turned back to look at Lux to see what he thought.

She hadn't even mentioned the hypo. Maybe she didn't know he had overheard that part of their conversation. He couldn't exactly tell her that he'd been eavesdropping. But they hadn't exactly been quiet about it. Anybody could have walked by and heard them talking. Maybe she didn't think it was any of his business or maybe she was just displaying some sort of roommate code of confidence.

Yeah, he told himself, that would be it. She just didn't want to embarrass Riyo by talking about it in front of him. And if she thought he needed to know, she would tell him.

She was waiting for his response. "Yeah. Later tonight. My place. Sounds great." And then belatedly he smiled at her what he hoped was a convincing smile. "Hey, I'll make that pasta thing you like."

"That sounds wonderful." She looked at him strangely for a moment and then stood on her toes for another kiss.

He made sure to give her a good one. It seemed to reassure her. "We'll pick up there, later?"

"Elek." She promised in Mando'a.

…

Thankfully there wasn't a long line at the med center. Soniee really wanted to meet back up with Lux and talk to him about… whatever that was. She also wanted to check out his data systems and make sure he wasn't bugged like Bail Organa but somehow she didn't think that would be happening tonight. Lux had seemed… desperate to be alone with her. Well she had put him off after the play and then they'd had to rush right to the senate session and then she'd had the meeting after and then Riyo needed her… But she had been busy since they arrived on Coruscant. It wasn't like they weren't always scraping for time to be together.

So what was different today? She paced the med center lobby.

"Can you stop that? You're making me nervous." Riyo gave a half-hearted chuckle.

"I'm sorry," Soniee sat, twisted her hands in her lap and then looked inquiringly at Riyo. "You don't think Lux is seeing someone else, do you?" She wasn't sure what made her ask that question. It just popped out of her mouth. Is that truly what she was worried about?

Riyo really did laugh. "Girl, that boy is head over heels for you. If I didn't know any better I'd say he was working up the courage to propose."

"No." Soniee denied it. "We agreed to take things slow. We…" but they hadn't really talked about the progression of their relationship. She loved being with him. She loved… him. But it was so soon.

"You want to take things slow." Riyo attempted to talk her through it. "You want to figure out where you are now before you accelerate to lightspeed. So talk to him. Get the hypo. It'll take some stress out of the equation for now until you're ready add that responsibility to the mix."

Soniee dithered. "That's why we're here right. It would make sense just to get it now…"

The nurse called Riyo's name and Riyo nodded her head towards the door. "Come on. I'm sure if we ask they can just do yours at the same time."

She went along but Soniee didn't make any promises.

The smell of antiseptic and bacta increased as they made their way back to the exam office. It was a powerful reminder of her first time on Coruscant.

Soniee tried to keep up the conversation as she looked around at the posters and paintings and framed certificates on the walls. "I don't think I've even set foot in a med center since Lux…"

"Since you bashed him over the head with a vase for trying to kiss you?" Riyo laughed, trying to make light of the situation while she sat in the chair and rolled up her sleeve for the nurse to do her work. "How times have changed since then."

Times had changed. Soniee thought back to that day in Lux's recovery room when he'd asked her how she had the Force to push him away or to pull that vase down on top of him. She had told him then that she did have power, that she had tried to use her powers to keep him from getting hurt. She had never intended for him to end up in a med center bed with a bacta smelling turban wrapped around his cranium.

She was jolted out of her memory when Riyo gave a small cry.

"Just a little pinch," the nurse was saying and Soniee's eyes were fixed on the needle that had been inserted into her friend's arm and the liquid that was being drawn out.

"Kriff," Soniee swore quietly and then quickly looked away.

Riyo laughed nervously. "Don't tell me you get queasy at the sight of blood?"

"Yeah, a little," Soniee said but that's not what she was thinking of. "You didn't say anything about… getting blood drawn before the…"

The nurse explained, "Even within similar species or the same species there are differences in blood types that will affect how the body will react to the medication. We do a standard test to…"

"Test?" Soniee swallowed. Oh no! She could not submit to a blood test!

"Soniee," Riyo chided her roommate. "You did realize that hypo is short for hypodermic?"

"Y-yeah." Soniee kept her eyes averted from the blood letting to play up the ruse. "I just thought it would be a quick stick and I could turn my head away and then it would be over. I'm just… gonna go wait out there."

She bolted from the office before the nurse or Riyo could try to persuade her. How could she have been so stupid? Of course the medics would want to make sure that she wasn't already pregnant and that they were giving her the right dosage. But if they could test her blood for those things they could surely run other tests, tests that might show that even if she wasn't able to display her powers now she certainly had been born with the ability.

Their new glorious Empire had not yet taken the bright red target off of the heads of the former Jedi knights. There were still stories of captures being made of those who had eluded the clones for a while after the original order. There had been no mention though of Kenobi, or Skywalker, or Master Yoda…

And there were rumors now of a stronger breed of hunters that were being sent out to find the last holdouts. Inquisitors? The word rang in Soniee's head like a death knell.

Riyo emerged a few standard minutes later rolling her sleeve back down over a bandage on her arm. "It really wasn't that bad," she told Soniee but in a softer much less judgemental tone. "I'm sorry if I tried to push you into something that made you uncomfortable."

"No," Soniee shook her head. "You didn't know and I had no idea it would affect me like that." She smiled wanly. "At least you're all taken care of for that hot date tonight?"

"Just in case," Riyo amended, blushing. "And what about you? Heading over to Lux's place?"

"And resorting to the usual precautions." They both giggled. "At least you'll have the apartment to yourselves, _just in case_?"

"Oh goddess! Wish me luck!"

"I wish you…" Soniee sought for the proper wording. "The perfect timing for both of you, not moving too fast, but just that you'll both be ready."

"Thank you," Riyo answered her sincerely, taking both her hands. "And for you and Lux, I wish that you will see how much he adores you."

"He does. I know." She tried to play it off. "He's kind of obsessive."

"That's not what I meant." Riyo gave her a sisterly glare. "You deserve to have something that will last and Lux actually seems to be settling down now that he's got you. Don't take that for granted."

"You're right and I won't." Soniee sighed. "I probably should have discussed the whole hypo thing with him before I came here anyway. He does have a stake in the outcome if we do mean to carry on long term."

"That's more like it. And when you are ready to come and get the hypo, he should be the one who comes with you to hold your hand so you won't be afraid of the little old needle."

She would talk to him about it and about why she could never get any kind of hypo at an Imperial medcenter.


	13. Yo, This One's Mine

"_ So anyway _," said Dalla from Iziz of all places. They kept just missing each other. " _Hutch says that he might have a new contact who could help us get some supplies. It was somebody pretty high up but then some guy interrupted the attempted connection, some guy called…. Oh who was the kid in the Lifeday movie about the kid who gets left at home by himself? _"

They had watched that movie together when he was up visiting her family for their salt and light celebration a couple of years ago but he had watched it with his dad a hundred times when he was a kid and his dad always said Lux was just as precocious. So when he said the name he said it like the frantic parents in the holo. "KEVIN!?"

"_ Aye, that's it. Whoever it was that broke in had a name something like Kevin. Sort of left a calling card like Hutch always does _."

Lux laughed. Talking with Dalla always made him feel better. "Kind of like those crooks in the movie too. Remember they always left the water running in the 'freshers of the houses they hit?"

"_ Aye, I'd forgotten that. Wasn't that how the cops knew all the stuff they were guilty of? _"

"Yeah, better warn Hutch it might not be such a good idea to tell all his victims who he is."

Dalla smirked showing her charmingly crooked teeth. "_ I'll do that _." Then she got down to business. " _So how's it going with Soniee? _"

"She's… amazing." Lux was glad he could set the holo projector up on the counter while he was working on supper. It kept his hands busy while he was talking. "I really want to bring her home to meet everyone but we've both been so busy with senate business. We did get away to see a Bard play last night. She thought the tickets were a gift from Chairman Papanoida again like the last time we went but turns out they were from his son Ion who just wanted the excuse to ask out her roommate. So it was sort of like a double date."

"_ Sounds like fun _." Dalla was still fishing for the negative in the equation.

"It was. It was a lot of fun. Ion and Riyo make a cute couple. She ah…" He should just come out and say it. "She went to the med center after the senate session today to get the hypo. Soniee went with her."

"_ Soniee's getting the hypo? _" Dalla reeled in the point. " _And she didn't discuss it with you first? _"

"It's not like I would have stopped her if I'd known that's what she wanted to do. We've been taking precautions. I knew she wasn't ready to have kids but…"

"_ She didn't even tell you she was going to the med center, did she. You just found out about it after the fact _."

He shrugged, knowing she would see the action in the holo image on her end.

"_ Maybe… _"

Lux looked up. This was the part where she would figure everything out like a famous detective. And he would feel completely stupid for not seeing it but he would also be incredibly thankful that he had such an amazing friend.

"_ Maybe she wanted to surprise you like, now you don't even have to think about taking precautions, because it's already taken care of _."

Somehow that didn't exactly make him feel better. He wanted to be involved in every part of Soniee's life not just have things taken care of without his knowledge.

There was a knock at the door.

"That'll be her." and that was a little upsetting too. He was glad to have the warning but at the same time he wanted her to feel at home in his home. He didn't want Soniee to feel like she had to be invited every time she came over.

"_ Well, talk with her. Be honest about how you feel _." Dalla gave her last minute advice.

"I will, thanks." He rattled off the Onderonian goodbye, shut off the comm and ran for the door.

Before he opened it he said to himself in a voice that still sounded very much like Dalla's, _You're going to support her decision, no matter what. Okay _.

"Lux." Soniee stood on the threshold without making a move to enter, even though she had been here dozens of times before. She looked almost distraught.

And he stood there staring at her as if trying to make out if there could be anything different in a person's appearance after they had taken a dose of medicine. Then he snapped out of it. "Come in."

She took a breath and crossed in front of him into the living room. "Lux, we need to talk."

"Oh, okay we're talking." _Be supportive! _"Do you want to sit down? Can I pour you some wine?"

She didn't pay any attention to his questions and started pacing. "I went to the med center with Riyo just now."

"Oh?"

"She wanted to get the hypo so I went along with her."

"Well if that's what you think is best then I…"

"I didn't get the hypo."

He stopped and looked at her. "You didn't get the…"

"Lux, they… they wanted to do a blood test."

The color drained from his face. There was only one reason he could think that they would do a blood test, to see if she was already… "But we were so careful."

"No! No, it's not that."

"O-okay." He struggled to breath normally.

"I wouldn't let them do the test because I was afraid they might… find out that I'm… that I was… even if I can't use the Force like I could before. If they knew…"

"Unifras!" He pulled her into his arms and held her tightly. "You did the right thing. Soniee, I'm so glad…" He kissed her desperately and then pressed his forehead against hers and swallowed hard. "I don't ever want to lose you. You haven't been able to do those things since the war ended. They have no reason to take you away."

She nodded, agreeing with his words even if she wasn't able to say them through her own emotion. "And there was something else. I never should have even considered it without speaking with you first. I mean it would affect you as much as it affects me and we're together in this, right?"

She looked so small and lost just then. Like she even had to ask. "Of course we're together." He kissed her. "You and me we're…" He kissed her again. "And we always will be." He lost himself in kissing her.

There were tears on her cheeks. He would kiss them all away. There was nothing more important in the galaxy right then than to show her how much he wanted her, needed her…

The timer on the oven rang. She laughed huskily with her shared passion in the moment. "You made dinner."

"We could heat it up again later," he suggested, only half serious.

She eased out of his embrace, taking his hand and leading him to the kitchen. "We have all night. We'll need our strength," she added teasingly.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Besides I like your cooking. I would hate for it to go to waste."

He had told her about how when his mother was a young senator and his father came to Coruscant as her guard, he would get bored in the apartment sometimes so he taught himself to cook. Later when Lux was little and his mother was on Coruscant and he was back home with his father on Onderon he would cook with his father and then after his father was killed, Lux would cook those same meals for his mother.

"It's a bit like history repeating itself: the Bonteri gentleman cooking for the beautiful young senator." he grinned at her over their plates once they had been seated at the table and clinked his wine glass against hers.

"Didn't your mother return to Onderon pregnant with you after that term as senator before she married her gallant soldier?"

"Well, it's like you said, we have all night, and you didn't get that hypo so…"

"Lux," She picked up her fork and brandished it like a sword. "I don't think either of us are ready to be parents any time soon."

"No," he agreed. "I'm definitely not ready to have another little person to share you with quite yet."

She giggled and then laughed out loud. It was so good to hear her laugh again. "That's as good a reason as any."

"But Soniee, you will… come home with me to Onderon? When the term is over and we've done our time for the galaxy, I want you to be by my side." He reached for her hand and wove his fingers with hers.

She sighed and pretended to blow off the suggestion. "Well it's not like I have anywhere else to go or had any better offers."

"Oh right, thanks."

Soniee smiled sincerely. "And nowhere else I'd rather be. I want you to show me… home."

"It will be home. I promise you that. And you'll get your mother's journal translated and visit all the places she knew and loved."

…

Soniee was glad that Lux hadn't proposed during dinner. There were a few times as they ate that she was sure the words were on the tip of his tongue but maybe he was waiting for a more momentous occasion.

He was a total romantic and would surely when the time came, produce a dramatic setting with the perfect lighting and music and poetry not to mention a ring. Until he had all of those plans made and the event arranged he would keep something as special as a proposal of marriage under wraps.

Even so, again after supper when he asked her if she would like to watch a holo to wind down, she thought he might be working up to popping the question. She said that would be nice and no, she didn't care which holo he chose. He picked a children's Lifeday holo about a kid who got left at home by himself while his family went on vacation without him.

Soniee thought it was an odd choice. She had seen it once or twice years ago but had always thought it was a little ridiculous the way the kid in the holo got rid of the villains by setting up a series of traps for them in his home. It never made sense to her why some of the traps didn't cause more damage and how he cleaned it all up afterwards.

Lux however said he had liked to watch it with his father when he was a kid. He hadn't seen it in a while but someone had reminded him of it recently.

She was happy to indulge him when she saw the look on his face. It reminded her of something Korkie had once said years ago after that first time they had all seen Lux burst into that peace meeting. "_ I was just thinking about what it must be like to grow up with both parents like that and then lose one of them so tragically." Korkie had taken a breath and frowned. "You and I, we never knew our real parents. The duchess has been good to me and your momma raised you to follow the _Resol'nare _but it's not like having a real family _."

It was odd that the memory should come back to her now. And the reminder of Korkie tugged at her emotions painfully. He was her husband. He had died. That made her a widow even though she never claimed the title and had never gone by his last name.

Korkie had wanted to settle down and have children and be a real family some day. He never got that chance but he would have wanted her to move on and have those things, wouldn't he? Maybe a proposal from Lux wouldn't be such a terrible thing. She still wasn't sure she was ready to say yes but the idea wasn't completely out of the realm of possibility.

She wasn't really watching the holo so much as watching Lux's reaction to it. And then he noticed her watching him. And then they both kind of forgot that the holo existed at all.

What started as just making out and heavy petting on the couch escalated quickly as it usually did between them to the frantic removal of clothing and race to his bed. She couldn't say it wasn't nice not to have to worry about disturbing a roommate with their volume or open doors.

When he drifted off to sleep she was still awake, thinking. Well as long as she was here and had access...

She wasn't a snoop. Soniee had only gone through Lux's datapad to secure his own digital privacy. Instead she found a shadow server already set up for him, similar to the one she'd set up for Senator Organa.

No, not only similar. This program was almost an exact copy of her work, only this one had the signature of the mysterious hacker who she had discovered lurking in Senator Organa's files. Soniee had come to think of him as "the Cashier," given his choice of taunt.

It seemed he knew she was going to look too — he'd embedded something in the code, something that looked like a HoloNet address. An invitation?

As much as she wanted to follow the link and see what that was all about, something else had caught Soniee's attention. Within the shadow server was the log of several comms and texts between Lux and someone named Dalla. It wouldn't have been an issue if this mysterious Dalla was just a few one-off communications, but it seemed like Lux was talking with her several times a week.

Soniee's eyes filled with tears against her will. Lux had been asking her to move in with him for months now, and she was seriously considering taking him up on the offer. Now to have the truth come out, that he'd been talking to a woman behind her back for months? What else - or who else - was he keeping from her?

Dalla, whoever she was, usually commed instead of texting so Soniee couldn't see the contents of her and Lux's exchanges. Even if she could, she wasn't sure she wanted to, but just in case she downloaded a bit of the _evidence _onto her own comm unit.

"Soniee?" Lux's voice came down the hallway. "Are you staying the night?"

Soniee closed out of his datapad and forced her voice to remain level. "Not tonight. I think Riyo is counting on my being home, and I don't have clean clothes here anyway."

"You won't need them. You can -."

"I'm not going to do a walk of shame into the Senate chamber." She didn't look at him while she collected her bag and made a beeline for the door. "I'll see you tomorrow, Lux."

…

Soniee conveniently burst into her and Riyo's apartment before her roommate and Ion had made it to the bedroom. Though it looked as though he was planning to stay the night. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt but… "

"Of course." Riyo nodded in slightly disappointed understanding and turned to ask if her guest minded to postpone their evening so that she and Soniee could talk.

Soniee waited until Ion gracefully made his exit to start right in. "I was right. He is seeing someone else, or at least comming her on a regular basis. He talks to her all the time. He has been for months. Since before he and I got together as far as I can tell."

"Slow down," Riyo guided her friend to the couch and sat her down. "How do you know? Did he tell you? Maybe it's not what you think?"

"I don't know what else it could be." Soniee looked to Riyo as if begging her to come up with some other option.

Riyo slipped into diplomat mode. "Well, what evidence do you have for this supposed relationship?"

Soniee sniffed back tears. "I was trying to secure his data systems." She remembered that she hadn't told Riyo about the job she was doing for Senator Organa and hurried to come up with an explanation that didn't make it look like she was just rifling through her boyfriend's personal files. "There have been a few senators who were known to be friendly with the Jedi who have been targeted with a bug in their software."

Riyo's eyes widened. Soniee actually hadn't realized till just now that her roommate might be one of those on the list.

"I can make sure your files are clean if you would like me to…"

"Later." Riyo brought her back to the point. "You were doing Lux a favor by checking into his flies."

"Elek," Soniee nodded fervently. "I suppose that I didn't specifically ask if he wanted me to do it but he did say that I was free to look into anything of his. He said he was an open holo."

"So you did. And what did you find?"

She took a deep breath before she went on. "There was a record of all these messages to someone named Dalla. Most of them were holocomms that weren't recorded but there were a few text messages as well. He talks to her two or three times a week."

"Well they could be talking about anything," Riyo encouraged. "It doesn't necessarily mean they're in a relationship."

Soniee shook her head. She pulled a comm unit out of her bag and handed it to her friend. "I downloaded one of the most recent exchanges." She wasn't proud of herself for doing it and she actually hadn't been able to bring herself to read it yet. She handed the device to Riyo and prayed to Manda that she was wrong. She watched the Pantoran's face closely as she scrolled through the dialogue.

"Oh goddess," Riyo said quietly her face a mask of disbelief.

"What is it?" Soniee reached up to take the comm unit back from her and nearly sent the thing tumbling to the floor. She fumbled it and stared at the screen trying to find the passage that had shocked her friend.

"..._ thank the stars I've got you, even though I know you haven't had much experience _…" Lux had typed to the mysterious Dalla.

And she had answered him, "_ Why don't I turn to the experts and ask the whores for advice? _"

"_ Yes, please _…" She could almost hear Lux's flirtatious tone of voice as she read the words and then let the device drop from her hands as her eyes filled again with tears.

"Oh, Soniee I'm so sorry." Riyo wrapped her arms around her friend. "I would have never guessed that he was hiding something like this. He has seemed so loyal to you."

"I-I knew that he played around before we got together on Alderaan. But I just… I thought he had changed."

…

Soniee was still in no mood to go to the senate session the next morning. She didn't want to run into Lux. She didn't know if she ever wanted to see him again.

Riyo left her roommate wrapped up in a blanket on the couch with a disk full of sappy holos and a flimsiplast tub of chocolate frozen dessert.

The Galaxy still revolved and one of them still had to make sure that the Empire was treating its citizens with respect. More respect, that is, than a certain Onderonian seemed to have for his Mandalorian girlfriend.

From the moment Lux Bonteri entered the senate building he was searching for one face in the crowd. He arrived early and ran down to her tiny office. She wasn't there.

He knew that something was wrong when she had left his apartment the night before. Had he said something? He had thought things were going well, after the worry about her getting the hypo and the scare of what could have happened if the empire had tested her blood.

He loved her. There were several times as they were having dinner and watching the holo and… everything that followed, that he had very nearly asked her to marry him. He had tried to be supportive of her just like Dalla had advised him. Maybe he should give Dalla another comm and try to figure out what he had done wrong.

Or maybe… What if it didn't matter that she hadn't gotten the blood test? What if someone had remembered what she was capable of before and had taken her away or… or just killed her because they thought she was one of them, one of the Jedi!

What was it she had said about Bail Organa being targeted because he was friends with the Jedi?

Unifras! Lux raced back up to the level of the building where the entrance to the pod for the Alderaanian delegation was located. Bail Organa gave him a smile and a wave before stepping behind the door to his pod. He didn't seem like he was aware of any abduction of his protege.

Riyo! Riyo would know, but by now the session was about to begin. Lux tried to settle his breathing before he ran to his own pod and entered into the senate chamber. His heart dropped into his stomach when he saw that the Mandalorian pod remained empty. And then he caught Riyo Chuchi's gaze across the rotunda.

She was glaring at him with every bit of hatred that her golden eyes could express.

He gulped and then he spun around and hurried back out of the senate building and into the first available transport that could bring him to Soniee's side.

When he knocked and she came to the door she was still wearing her pajamas and she had a spoon in her mouth and an empty carton of some sort of sweet frozen thing in her hands.

"Oh it's you." She turned away from him without giving him more than a glance and went to dispose of the trash and put the spoon in the sink.

"Yes, it's me." He stepped inside and closed the door behind him. Whatever was going on here he didn't need the entire apartment building to be witness to it. "Are you alright? Are you sick?"

"I'm not contagious if you're worried about us spending the evening together last night." She still wouldn't look at him.

"No." He shook his head, incredulous at her reception of him. "I was worried about you. After what you said about your…" he lowered his voice even though they were alone now. "Force sensitivity and someone finding out. I thought maybe they had come for you."

Now she did look at him but it wasn't a pleasant expression she wore. "Did you tell someone about it? Because not that many people know." Then she dropped the bomb. "Did you tell Dalla about me?"

"Dalla?" He was flabbergasted.

"Yes, Dalla. You do know the one I'm talking about? The one who you comm several times a week and have done since long before you knew me? The one who will go to the whores for advice even if she's not so experienced herself?"

He almost laughed with relief. "Dalla?"

She gaped at him. "Well, that's just fine, Lux, if you would rather be with her, but I wish you would have just been honest with me and not led me along all this time."

He crossed the room to her and placed his hands on her shoulders gently. He saw the red rims of her eyes and knew she had been crying and he very much wanted to kiss her but first he had to explain. "Soniee, Dalla is the Lady of the North. We are friends because we joined forces during the war."

"Joined forces?" She tried to pull away from him. "Elek, I'm sure that's all you joined."

He held on to her, though he was sure she could still pack a punch even if the Force wasn't running through her as it once had. "Generally the Northern and Southern regions of Onderon don't interact but she was escaping a marriage contract and she brought the might of the Navy to help us win our independence from the Separatists."

"She… is a noble ally?" Soniee seemed to consider. "And she wasn't hoping to escape one marriage proposal for… another?"

"Not with me at any rate." He smiled glad to be finally getting through to her.

"So you go to her for… advice?"

"Yes, I do. She may have never had any luck in the romance department but she does know our traditions how the government of Onderon has always been run. As a senator, as a representative of my people I count on her guidance to help me lead."

She allowed him to brush a wayward lock of her hair behind her ear and gently stroke her cheek. "Sounds a little...like the Duchess on Mandalore. She was always there for us cadets to give us guidance and good advice."

"Yeah, exactly. She's a great advisor and I'm trying to keep her filled in on what's going on with the Empire so that the North and South can remain allies."

Soniee couldn't completely let go of her suspicions just yet. "So in her last text when she told you she would get advice from the whores…"

"You read my messages?"

"I was trying to secure your system and you said you were an open holo!" She countered even as he wrapped his arms around her and drew her closer to him.

"I did. You're right." He admitted. "And it's like I said, she's not terribly experienced with matters of the heart. She was brought up on the northern sea around a bunch of rough sailors and her mother died when she was quite young so she didn't have that influence. But when I asked her about how I should proceed with you…" he tapped her nose with his finger. "She was trying the best she could to help me not make a dikut of myself."

"You did tell her about me, then?"

"I think you'd like her. Actually I can't wait to introduce you to her. That is if you still want to come back to Onderon with me…"

Instead of answering with words, she stretched up on her tiptoes and kissed him. He had regained her trust and he swore to himself to never again let her feel so helpless.


	14. Match Wits With Someone At Your Level

"She's a noble ally, sort of like the Duchess was," Soniee explained to Riyo after Lux had left the apartment. Her roommate had returned full of plans to rain agony on Lux only to find the couple making up for their misunderstanding. "Accusing him was a little like … if I had accused you of having something going on with the Chairman because you comm him so often."

Riyo made a face. "I know he was a holo star in his prime but no, definitely not."

Both of them laughed at the thought.

"Then, you're still planning on going back to Onderon with him after the term is over?"

Soniee nodded. "I don't plan on arriving there pregnant like his mother did after her term."

"So, you'll be getting that hypo after all?"

"Well, no." She fished for an excuse. "Those last for years and what if... I mean after we go to Onderon and I meet his friends and if he proposes…"

"You think you'll accept?" Riyo went after the subject with all the gusto of a hungry nexu. She was addicted to wedding holo shows and wouldn't miss a chance to help plan the real thing.

"Maybe. I haven't decided for sure yet." It was still so soon and she didn't want to take things too quickly.

"When you do, let me know!"

Soniee laughed. "You'll be the first person I comm."

...

After she had assured her roommate that everything was patched up between she and Lux, Soniee sat down at her data pad and entered in the link that the Cashier had embedded into the code in Lux's shadow file. He, or she, Soniee supposed, had obviously cloned her own program with a little tweaking here and there. And he, or she, had known that Soniee would find it. She wondered if the Cashier knew she would be looking at Lux's data specifically, or if she would just randomly be scanning for other government officials who might be plagued with a similar bug in their data systems.

It was a clever way to draw her out if it was an enemy placing the clues, but Soniee was almost entirely sure that this was more a game of curiosity than of malice. She almost laughed when she saw where the link had brought her, a chat room on a fan holo site.

Manda, she hadn't read fan holos in years. She and Lagos used to skim through the Papanoida/Bard crossover stories and a few of the naughtier clone romance fics when they were back at the academy. The latter mostly just to prove that she could break through the age restriction on the academy's system. Soniee managed it with ease and then got too embarrassed to read all the way through the steamier, mature rated stories.

This wasn't a link to a specific holo fic however, just a general conversation thread. She signed on under the pseudonym she had recently created. She didn't have to wait long for someone to notice her entrance into the chat.

Cashier from Hell: _Ah so we finally meet, Kebiin_.

Kebiin Tracinya: _You are the pirate who stole my hard work, I presume? I don't believe you paid for that code you used to bring me here._

Cashier from Hell: _Ah, but it was such a beautiful piece of software and I needed it for a similar purpose. A very similar purpose, but then you know that or you wouldn't have followed the trail to find it._

Kebiin Tracinya: _I thank you for your kind words. I must also compliment your own very sexy little virus that nearly destroyed the delicate partition I had set up to disguise the shadow system I was attempting to create. _

Somewhere on Onderon, Hutch St. James turned to his wife, bragged, "Kebiin called my virus sexy," and then went back to typing.

Cashier from Hell: _I was sure if you were any slicer worth your spice you'd easily get past that old thing. You flatter me if I managed to slow you down for more than a few standard minutes. _

Kebiin Tracinya: _Seven point three to be exact. It would have been shorter if I wasn't worried about the effects seeping into the other programs I was working so hard to protect. But then I noticed how very singularly directed the target of the virus was. Being able to pick and choose the files a virus infects is a unique talent. Comes in handy when you want to distract the owner of the data to swipe a single file out of many?_

Cashier from Hell: _Indeed it does. And how about that shadow file of yours? Duplicating the system to allow the original to run without the knowledge of the party who placed a monitor and allowing the owner of the system to pass information on both systems at will? It's pure genius._

Kebiin Tracinya: _I thank you for your compliment, but now with the pleasantries out of the way I suppose we should find out why exactly we are both working to protect systems being monitored by the same bug? _

Cashier from Hell: _We do seem to have mutual acquaintances or just similar reasons to instate ourselves as guardian angels to the poor beleaguered senators of our glorious Empire._

There was satire in the tone of the message even though sarcasm could be difficult to get across in a chat format.

She wanted to ask him just how many senators he was determined to protect. If Lux was among them and she was known to be his girlfriend perhaps her own systems had been 'checked out'? She shot him back a message even while she scanned her files for the markers of his particular tampering. It wouldn't do for him to peg her identity from the similarity to her hacker handle.

Kebiin Tracinya: _How exactly do you choose which senators are in need of your particular brand of protection?_

No, thank Manda. Her own personal systems came back clean of his tampering.

There was a significant pause before the next response came back. He was still sizing her up. Maybe testing the connection before giving up any more sensitive information?

Cashier from Hell: _I had a hunch that the powers that made a few friends disappear might want to keep tabs on the friends of those friends, especially the higher profile friends who might not be happy about the disappearances and might have the resources to do something about it?_

Kebiin Tracinya: S_o you set an algorithm to search for the monitoring of anyone who might have had contact with our absent friends without any specific target in mind? That's very clever._

Cashier from Hell: _Thank you. And once I had a line on the type of bug that was being used I could follow that to the specific subjects that were being monitored. _

Manda, this was how it felt to match wits with someone at your level! What the hell was the catch?

Kebiin Tracinya: _Were you able to then widen the search to other contacts with whom the monitored individuals may have shared information? _

She waited with her hands poised over the keyboard ready to respond.

Cashier from Hell: _I hadn't gotten quite that far. Though that's a good point. The monitors may dig further to see if the monitored are using the systems of their friends and loved ones if their own systems appear clean_.

Soniee was watching for the slightest alert that anyone was messing with her own system while she prodded further.

Kebiin Tracinya: _So spouses, close friends, business associates could all be next on the list to have their systems 'checked out'? Excuse the pun._

Cashier from Hell: _Ha! Exactly. I hadn't seen the bug program spread to those yet but if I was searching for leaks or possible inserections, that's the next place I would look. _

Now how to spin this so she didn't look too eager? Or maybe she could use that.

Kebiin Tracinya: _So are we gonna divvy up the family and friends to make sure all this private info stays private? If so I've got dibs on the Onderonian kid's girlfriend. _

Cashier from Hell: _Yeah, Why's that?_

Kebiin Tracinya: _Man, have you seen her?_

Soniee could almost hear his amusement through the chat.

Cashier from Hell: _In that case go ahead, my friend! Don't want my lady getting the wrong idea anyway._

Kebiin Tracinya: _Your lady? _

She was hoping to throw any suspicion off herself.

Kebiin Tracinya: _You tell me the great Cashier from Hell has a partner in crime? _

There was a long pause. The Cashier seemed to have accepted her as an ally, but such a blatant query would draw suspicion from anyone. He eventually replied.

Cashier from Hell: _Only the one mainstay… Though I've been known to fly with mollymauks and I enjoy the company of a southern whore as much as anyone. _

Mollymauks and southern whores? Could those be more codenames? Soniee made a mental note as she composed her reply

Kebiin Tracinya: _Well whoever she is, Mrs. Cashier seems to be a very lucky woman to have such a devoted partner. _

...

"Hey babe, Kebiin says you're a lucky woman!"

"What? What are you telling him?" Hero read the chat feed over her husband's shoulder and rolled her eyes. "Well at the moment Mrs. Cashier is questioning her decision to marry a man who conducts secret hacker meetings on fan holo sites."

Hutch's grin spread across his face. "You're just jealous of my genius. Since when does the Empire expect anything I throw at them? Or," he waggled his eyebrows. "Anything you throw at them?"

Hero _hmphed. _"You're right about half of that, at least."

…

Soniee arrived at Senator Organa's office with a sack of food from the same fly-through restaurant they had visited on their previous meeting. She placed it before him with a smile and then sat on the edge of his desk while he jumped up and began pacing back and forth with the flimsi carton of fries in his hand. Then while he snacked she explained all that she had learned from her conversation with the Cashier.

"So I had this idea, and it might be a complete coincidence, but I think this _Cashier_ and the other operatives he's mentioned might be from Onderon," she suggested cautiously.

Bail stopped his pacing and looked at her. "He said something to this effect during your communication?"

"Not in so many words."

"You had a… _feeling_ then?" He asked more carefully.

"No." She shook her head. She certainly didn't think it was the Force speaking to her. "It was… well, I looked into your system first and found the bug and the Cashier and _then_ I looked into Lux's system to see if he had the same issue. I assumed that the Cashier had followed the same trail."

Bail nodded for her to continue.

"When I went back to look at Lux's system again to make sure that my program had been installed properly, it looked like the Cashier may have been monitoring Lux's system before the Empire placed the bug and that he wasn't sure what to do about it but he followed that lead to discover that your system had been bugged also and then when I was able to bypass your issues, he used the same tactic to do the bypass on Lux's system also."

"Do you think Lux asked this other hacker to try to find a way to fix his data systems?"

"I don't think Lux had any idea that any of it was going on. He's kind of clueless when it comes to tech." Soniee smiled. "But he did work with a group of rebels to free Onderon from the Separatists during the war and they also worked with the Jedi. So it makes sense why the Empire would want to look into Lux's data and why his friends from the war might not want that data compromised."

"It is a viable theory." Bail ate another fry, contemplatively.

Soniee broached her next suggestion tentatively. "Even if the Cashier is not one of the Onderonian rebels, I was thinking of trying to make contact with some of Lux's old friends while we're visiting the planet when the senate term is up. I was thinking that a group that was already somewhat organized, not to mention trained by the Jedi, might be useful allies to have."

A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Ah, so that's where you plan to spend your free time after the end of the senate term."

She could feel herself blushing. "Elek. Well, I… Lux has been asking me to come for a visit since Leia's nameday. It's where my mother was from. I hope to learn something more about her."

"You know that Breha and I would love for you to come and stay with us again on Alderaan any time you wish."

Did she detect a bit of fatherly concern in his voice? "Thank you, both. I felt very welcome in your home." _And safe_. Tracking down a cell of rebels who had fought alongside the Jedi wasn't exactly the safest route. Neither, maybe, was taking this step with Lux…

"And this means you won't be going back to Mandalore after the term finishes either?" Bail asked her in a more official tone.

She nodded also returning to business. "Almec will be comming me soon to talk about whatever he needs to talk to be about after the finish of this term and before the next one begins."

Bail crossed his arms over his chest and would have looked completely composed if he wasn't still holding the flimsi package of fries in one hand. "Would you like for someone to attend that meeting with you?"

"No." Soniee laughed. "I think I can handle him this time. Though I don't know how he feels about the job I've done during this term."

"Well if he can't see that you are handling things marvelously, history will prove him wrong." He set the carton down on the desk and then wiped off his hands on a napkin before placing them gently on her shoulders. "I for one thank you for your service."


	15. You Were Mine To Subdue

Soniee sat in her tiny office with her hands folded on the top of her desk. At least she kept it more clean than it had been when she first arrived. She didn't keep a lot of framed holos or nicknacks like some beings did in their offices. Even the few things she had set out to brighten the place up had now been packed away.

Maybe when she came back for the next session she would add to the decor a bit. There was a holo that one of the tabloids caught of she and Lux that turned out pretty nice. She could frame that one. And that holo of Leia that Bail had given her, it would propagate the rumor that Soniee had a stronger connection to the little girl than she actually had, but she was sooooo adorable and having such a thing around would remind Soniee that there was still some good in this Galaxy, something to fight for on the Senate floor.

She sighed. She knew very well what Almec was up to. She had made him wait (or rather Bail had) for that first meeting when she was appointed to her post. So now the Prime Minister was going to make her wait.

She was keen to get back to the apartment and finish packing for her trip to Onderon but that could wait. She wasn't going to let Almec find her unprepared.

As she sat there waiting for him to initiate the comm, she remembered something from her first journey to Coruscant. Hurtling through hyperspace, overcome with emotions, Obi-wan Kenobi had sat her down in the cabin of that Kom'rk and taught Soniee how to meditate. And then later when she'd come under suspicion for the Temple bombing since that Kom'rk she flew had been in the hanger at the time, she had found a string of meditation beads and had calmed herself by saying the words Korkie's father had taught her.

Well, she hadn't used her powers since the siege, that is if she still had them, but she could take comfort in the words, couldn't she? As long as it wasn't out in the open she should be okay.

Soniee closed her eyes, took a deep breath and whispered, "There is no emotion, there is peace…"

She lost track of time as she sat there repeating the words and feeling the relief wash over her. When the comm unit finally rang she was a well of calm. She smiled as she activated the unit, not at all the frustrated, frazzled, little female senator Almec had been hoping to find.

"Good afternoon, Prime minister," She spoke first and his own smug expression fell to disappointment. "Or is it evening on Mandalore?" she added politely.

"No, it's still afternoon." He looked as though he wished he had kept her waiting a bit longer. "But here we are so we shall get down to business."

"Yes, Sir." She nodded. "I believe you received the reports I sent of all the goings on in this session?"

"Yes, they were adequate," He allowed with a sniff.

She didn't let his attitude ruffle her. "Was there anything you needed to discuss or anything you would like me to look into while I am on leave before the next session begins?"

"Actually that is what I wished to speak to you about." Some of his regular ill tempered swager returned. "I have decided that you will _not _be returning to represent Mandalore when the senate reconvenes."

"Oh?" The news did come as a shock but she tried not to betray the emotion.

"Yes," he sneered. "While your performance has been satisfactory, it is clear from your… presence in the tabloid media that your attention can be rather distracted from your occupation."

"I'm sorry, Prime Minister. I can't help if the press tends to follow me around when I am on my personal time but I think you will find from the documents I sent that the committees I have participated in have been very successful in presenting our legislation and finding support for the causes we have undertaken."

"Hmmm…" he shuffled through some of the flimsiwork on his desk. "The… information you provided will serve as an acceptable starting point for your replacement."

"My replacement." Soniee wasn't even sure why she was so upset. She had never asked for this position but she had done her best once she was thrown into the fires of politics. "And who might this replacement be? May I ask?"

Another figure stepped into the holo image. He was wearing Mandalorian armor freshly painted white just like the Imperial stormtroopers. But atop the helmet as he removed it Soniee noticed the horns that had adorned the Buy'ce's of Maul's Shadow collective. She didn't recognize his face but she didn't have to.

"Miss Ordo," Almec had already dropped her title. "May I introduce you to _Senator _Gar Saxon."

She swallowed back a more violent reaction. "I don't believe I have had the honor of making your acquaintance."

"The pleasure is mine." He gave her a mocking bow.

Soniee felt the bile rise in her throat. She would have almost thought that it was something else, that the feeling filling her chest might have allowed her to reach through the connection and throttle him with the Force. She knew he had been one of those on the platform that day when they had tried to rescue the Duchess. But the Force wasn't with her anymore and even if it was, she would never risk exposing herself so blatantly.

Instead she cleared her throat, "Senator Saxon, I wish you well in your endeavors." Then before she could tempt fate or the Force or whatever it was, she turned her attention back to the Prime Minister. "If that will be all, then I will continue with my intentions to leave Coruscant this evening."

Almec's smile widened, "You are free to stay or go as you wish, no longer under any compulsion to the government of Mandalore."

Hearing him say it was actually a relief. She never again had to put up with that Chakaar. She _was _free. "Yes," she agreed, warming to the idea with a smile of her own. "I see no reason to waste anymore of your time, Prime Minister."

"Good day, Miss Ordo." He bowed once more as his image faded from the connection.

Well, this changed everything. She would still go to Onderon with Lux but what about her work with Bail Organa? It wasn't like she needed to be on Coruscant to continue to help him with information systems. She could do that from anywhere. She wouldn't have her senate salary either, but she was still determined to help Riyo keep the apartment.

She was still wondering through all this when Lux arrived at the door to her office. He knocked and poked his head into the small room. "Ah, so this is where you've been. I know you love this place but we'll be back here in a couple of months."

"No." It felt even more real saying it aloud. "I won't. Someone else has taken my seat in the senate. I'm… retired, I suppose." She laughed.

His expression filled with concern. He must have thought she was hysterical. "Unifras! You've been sacked! I'm so sorry!" He rushed to her side.

She allowed him to gather her into his arms but she protested. "No no, it's not like that. I never wanted the job in the first place. I mean I did my best after I was appointed but you know Almec and I never saw eye to eye and now I never have to speak to him again."

Lux studied her carefully. "Now that… you don't want to go home to Mandalore?"

She did still have friends there but she hadn't even taken the chance to contact them after the purge. She supposed they would have seen the news, would know that she was alright and she couldn't chance bringing attention to the place Fox and Lagos were now in hiding.

"Mandalore isn't my home any longer." She gazed at him. "My home is…" _with you. _She had almost finished the sentence but the words caught in her throat. And then he kissed her and she couldn't say anything at all.

Then he took her hand and began to pull her away from the office. It wasn't her office anymore and she didn't have any special connection to it.

"Come on," he said huskily. "There's something I want to show you."

"Where are you taking me?" She asked as he led her up in the lift and around several corridors. She thought she knew but she hadn't the slightest idea what he might want to show her.

He was talking less than usual but smiling more and he had that look in his deep blue eyes. That look that made her feel so helpless.

"Just you wait." He stopped in front of the door that led to the pod designated for the Mandalorian representative. She had entered that door nearly every day since she had arrived on Coruscant to serve as Senator. Then he opened the door and ushered her inside.

It was strange looking out over all the empty seats. She had only ever seen it filled with beings from every corner of the galaxy, but now they were alone.

Lux drew aside her cascade of brown hair and began kissing her neck.

She breathed his name.

"You can't tell me you've never wondered what it would be like."

She had. "But Lux we can't…"

He touched her lips with his finger to silence her and then drew from his pocket the answer to her last objection. Yes, he had even brought protection.

"Did you think of everything?"

"I have been imagining having you in this chair…" he lowered her into it with a kiss. "Since the first time I saw you sit in it."

She didn't offer any resistance. Once she might have. Back at that party on Palpatine's balcony when they both had other loves who they would have been betraying if they gave in to their passion. And it wasn't him then. He had been possessed. Some power had been trying to use him to force her to act.

But now she knew Lux, intimately. She chuckled, "What is this some sort of statement to kriff the galaxy?"

"Kriff Mandalore!" he exclaimed exultantly. "Kriff the Senate!"

She whooped aloud with laughter and then sobered and lost herself in his eyes again and whispered, "kriff me."

He growled in the back of his throat and took her up on the invitation. Their voices carried over the empty seats but neither of them cared.

When their passion was sated and they began to straighten themselves up and prepare to leave, Soniee stood once more and looked out over the empty Senate chamber. Lux stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her.

"You know something else I've never done?" she asked him with a bit of a challenge in her voice.

"No, what's that?"

"I never got to give a speech to the whole senate. I was supposed to that very first day we met. Do you remember?"

"That's right." He turned her to face him. "You were going to ask the Republic to come and aid your system but the Chancellor informed you that there wasn't a need because the Prime Minister had reached a peace agreement."

She made a face.

He laughed, "I thought you didn't want to give that speech anyway."

"It was still a missed opportunity." She shrugged.

"Well then, why don't you have your say right now?" He backed a step away from her and gestured grandly around the chamber. "We're all ears. Beings of the Galaxy, I give you Soniee Ordo!"

"I…" She looked back at him as he took his seat beside her and motioned for her to begin. What could she say?

She tried to remember the impassioned plea that she and Padme had prepared for her to deliver that day… had it been nearly 2 years ago? And then she thought of one of the Duchess's speeches that she had been forced to memorize for her government classes at the academy. And then she remembered another speech that she had given.

She had rehearsed it for months before she and her fellow cadets had performed the play, _The Prince of Alderaan _, in front of their friends and professors and family. Soniee still remembered every word of the monologue that the Bard had written for Princess Phelia of Onderon. She delivered the lines now just as she had then, remembering the kiss she had shared with Korkie's character on stage and the story of the fictional father's death and the knowledge that her whole life had been built on a lie.

It was after that speech in the play when the character, Phelia, plummeted to her death. Soniee had been wearing a jetpack for the performance so that she could safely land backstage once she was out of sight of the audience. She had no such vehicle strapped to her back today.

Lux must have known how the story went as well because when she had spoken the last line he reached out and grabbed her hand, drawing her back from the front edge of the pod.

She looked at him and smiled. "I wasn't really going to do it."

"You were very convincing."

And then they were both startled by the sound of applause coming from the center of the senate floor. They watched as the pod that belonged to the senate moderator lifted from its spot and rose slowly to the height of their own.

"Very very good, Senator Ordo." The voice was that of none other than the Emperor himself. His black hood was pulled low over his disfigured face. "I don't believe I have heard such a riveting performance even from the Republic Bard Company themselves."

"Th-thank you." Soniee did her best to give the man a small curtsy. She was gripping Lux's hand hard, exactly the way she had when she and Lux had entered Palpatine's office that first day when she had planned to tell him that she had to decline the position as Representative of Mandalore. And that reminded her of something else. "But I'm afraid I am no longer a Senator, My Emperor."

"Oh?" He actually looked disappointed. And for a moment Soniee thought of the kind old Ba'buir with whom she had once shared a pot of shig. "You shall not be returning to us for the next session?"

"Um No." She shook her head and saw out of the corner of her eye that Lux was still standing there in stunned silence. "Prime Minister Almec has given the position to someone he deems more capable of serving the Mandalore system."

"I'm sure I can't think of anyone who would be more capable. An error in judgment this _Forced _retirement when you obviously still have it within you to do great things in this galaxy."

"Oh well, thank you." She tried to play it off as if she got compliments from the Emperor every day but something about his words, "forced" and "within you" struck an uncomfortable note.

Lux still didn't say a word as if he had been momentarily struck mute. He blinked.

Emperor Palpatine smiled at them both. "I won't keep the two of you any longer. You'll be on your way to Onderon I suppose. It's where your mother came from?"

"Y-yes," she stuttered. Why should the leader of the known galaxy take such an interest in her? But she couldn't see a reason not to answer. "I believe both of my birth parents were from that planet. I hope to learn more about them and where I came from."

"Good luck in your search, Miss Ordo. And I do hope you will not stay away from Coruscant forever. You must return often to visit us with your _friend _Mr. Bonteri."

At this Lux finally seemed about to protest but the senate leader's pod had already descended to its original position. Instead he whispered to Soniee, "How long do you think he was down there?"

She knew what he meant and she too rather thought that the creepy old man might very well have been observing them from the moment they had entered the chamber but she denied the possibility "Oh, he probably just arrived while I was giving my speech."

"Yeah," Lux nodded. "You're probably right."

…

"Soniee it's alright. We're leaving. We never ever have to come back to Coruscant if you don't want to. We'll leave all of this behind us." By the time they had reached the apartment, Lux was jubilant. He had thumbed his nose at the Galactic Empire and the Mandalorian government who had insulted the love of his life and now she was coming home with him to Onderon. Absolutely nothing else mattered.

She was packing. "Well I'm still keeping the apartment in my name."

"And you're afraid Riyo and Ion will be bad renters?" He laughed.

"No." She dug to the bottom of the crate of clothing looking for something less formal and more comfortable for space travel. "I'm glad for them to use it. And I'm glad that…"

Her comm chimed and interrupted the thought. She emerged from the crate with a grunt. "I'd better get that. It might be Bail."

"Go ahead. Is there something you want me to look for?" He nodded towards the crate.

"I was just trying to find my green tunic. You know the one?" She instructed while she made her way to her desk where the comm unit sat.

"Yeah." He waved her on and took up her spot at the crate. It was a job he didn't mind doing at all. He liked her clothes. He liked the way they looked on her and he liked taking them off her. Her shuffling through the collection had left them in rather a mess so as he searched he began to fold and organize. Funny how with some things like her circuits and fuses she kept everything in perfect order and he couldn't understand a bit of it.

Lux found the green tunic in short order. It was a rather large shapeless number that didn't show off her curves to their best advantage but it was soft and she liked to cuddle up in it so it did have its perks. She was right, it would be nice for a long space voyage.

He was about to call out to her to tell her he had found it but she was still on her comm and there were a few more items he could rearrange for her so that she could find things more easily when she unpacked on Onderon. As he grabbed for something on the bottom of the crate his hand caught hold of a cord that he hoped had not come loose from one of the garments. He pulled it gently and found himself holding a sort of necklace.

Strung from the cord was a crystal pendant. He had never seen her wear it before. It seemed to have a pristine, simple beauty, like Soniee herself. He had seen her wear much more ornate and complicated jewelry and hair ornaments but this seemed to be more her style than any of them. Suddenly he desperately wanted to see it on her, that crystal resting against her breast bone.

When he entered the room she was just finishing up her holocomm with Senator Organa. Lux was glad she had developed this sort of mentoring relationship with the viceroy of Alderaan. She had never known a father and the gentleman seemed to fill that role. He let her say her goodbyes before he approached.

Lux stepped up behind her, laid his hands on her shoulders, and whispered in her ear. "All done with that then?"

"Yeah," She touched his hand. "I might continue to do some more work for him with his data systems. He likes what I've set up already. Might keep me busy while you're busy with Onderonian government business." She smiled up at him and got ready to rise from her seat but before she could do so he slipped the cord over her neck and centered the pendant.

She froze. "Where did you find this?" she sounded almost fearful.

"It was at the bottom of your crate. I straightened all that up by the way. But this… I've never seen you wear it. It's beautiful."

"Lux, I…" she touched the crystal gingerly.

"Does it make you uncomfortable?" He asked and then assumed in dreadful realization. "Was it a gift from your husband?"

"No, it was…" Her hand fisted over the little gem. "I found it shortly after I left Coruscant the first time. It was near my mother's ship where I found her journal."

"Well maybe it belonged to her. Maybe there was some connection?"

"No, it wasn't hers. It was on Concord Dawn." Soniee looked as if she might rip the thing off for a moment but Lux covered her hand with his.

"Then you should wear it to remind you of your home."

It did remind her of home. It reminded her of the way Maul had destroyed her home trying to find more crystals like it. Well he hadn't gotten what he wanted. She could at least be glad of that. She hated to think what he would have done if he could have found a source of true kybers like the one that was now back around her neck.

What the emperor had said before about her retiring but still… having it in her, did he know? She closed her eyes and felt the power of the crystal. Yes, she could feel that power stirring deep within her. It felt so natural, so much a part of who she was. But no one could know that part of her still existed.

She should take it off. She should leave all that far behind her. She was going to start a new life with Lux on a new planet and she didn't need anything to tie her to the past. But Lux squeezed her hand that held the pendant and he whispered again. "It's part of you and you are beautiful."

"Okay." she found herself saying.

He kissed her and then they both opened their eyes and he grinned. "Come on. The transport is waiting for us." He took her hand and pulled her to her feet. He glanced down once more at the pendant and then back up into her eyes. "Come, my princess. I'm taking you home."


	16. Take a Break

Lux and Soniee are on their way to Onderon so it might be helpful to jump over to my story "Some Say I've Got Devil" and look at chapter 32 "Loyalty to the Crown" that introduces a few characters who are featured in the old "Tales of the Jedi" comic books. Going to reintroduce a few of those characters here and now. Might find some familiar faces among those ancient Onderonians...

* * *

It wasn't easy for Soniee to not be in the pilot's seat for the trip to Onderon and it was even harder to leave her own B-7 freighter in a parking hanger on Coruscant.

The senatorial shuttle was comfortable and lavishly appointed with anything they might desire for the flight as Lux pointed out during the tour he gave her when she came aboard but she still wanted to be on the bridge watching out the view screen as they left the atmosphere of the city planet, orbited twice, and then made the jump to hyperspace. After that only the promise of the crew that they would let her know when they were approaching Onderon's star system so that she could watch the re-entry into real space, did she agree to go along with Lux into the passengers' area.

"You know there are sleeping cabins. The bunks are remarkably comfortable." Lux leaned close to her and kissed her cheek and then lifted her hair to leave a trail of kisses down her neck to her collar bone. "You could let me distract you from all this."

"Lux," she pushed him away gently. "Maybe it would be a good idea if I actually got some sleep. I've been up for I don't know how many hours packing and everything." She attempted a smile. "I don't want to arrive and meet your friends totally exhausted."

"Of course," he said, a little disappointed but still understanding. He touched the cord around her neck and gave her a genuine smile. He tilted up her chin and kissed her on the mouth, maybe trying to convince her otherwise.

She broke the kiss with a very real yawn. "Oh, I'm sorry." She covered her mouth and looked ashamed.

He chuckled. "Maybe some rest would be good for both of us. And the pilot did say we would be informed when we are nearing Onderon."

The cabin was as comfortable as he had promised and Soniee fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.

…

"You may approach, young man." The ancient queen on the throne beaconed for Mordecai Rash to step closer. Beside her, the king was noticeably absent but that wouldn't stop her from presiding over the betrothal arrangements of her only child.

_How did she know these people, this place? _

"Yes, Your Majesty," Mordecai obeyed, bowing low before the monarch.

The princess almost felt sorry for him.

_She was the princess! _

"And what have you done with the other gift we were so gracious as to give you?" Queen Amanoa asked.

Mordecai raised himself to his full height but his voice shook. "Y-you mean the red crystals? I brought them to a jeweler to have them made into a necklace, f-for the princess."

He glanced back at her and she smiled in what she hoped was an encouraging manor. He wasn't so bad as she might have expected for her chosen suitor except for the fact that she hadn't been the one doing the choosing.

While her mother continued to interrogate the young man and his mother stood to the side looking smug, the princess made her way over to Mordecai's father. She greeted him politely having only been formally introduced to her future father-in-law and never spoken to him directly.

"Princess Galia," he bowed as low as his son had before the queen.

_Galia. That was her name. _

She fought the urge to roll her eyes and reach out to nudge him back to stand upright. "Lord Rash," She addressed him with the decorum that was ingrained in her royal upbringing and then lowered her voice. "Mordecai told me about your daughter. I want to do whatever I can to help her."

"My…" He cleared his throat. "My bastard and her husband were traitors to the crown. They deserved to be banished beyond the walls. My son was right to aid in their capture and removal and we are honored by the rewards extended to him for his service to your majesties."

She frowned. It was a perfectly curated statement but Galia could see the pain in his eyes. No matter what he said, it was clear the man loved his daughter.

"Perhaps they've met a clan of sympathetic Beast Riders?" She only wanted to console him. Galia had met a Beast Rider after all who was very agreeable indeed, even though she'd always been taught that they were jungle savages.

Lord Rash eyed her strangely but he seemed to judge that he could be honest with her at least to a point. "The _beasts_ have not been as sympathetic. My son-in-law has gathered a group of like minded individuals who are building ships. They plan to try their luck in the north."

Galia gasped. _The North! No one went to the north! It was a frozen wasteland! _

_Again the dreamer wondered how she knew this. It certainly was a very vivid dream. _

Before she could think of a way to reply to that, however, her eye caught the flash of a drexl's wing outside the window. Her heart quickened. He was here!

_Who was HE? And yet she knew this also. _

"Mother?" She asked in her sweetest, guileless voice. "This has all been so overwhelming. Please excuse me for a moment."

"I apologize if I said something to distress you." Lord Rash bent low once again beside her.

Galia shook her head. "No, of course not."

The queen glanced up at her and waved for the princess to be dismissed. She didn't even seem to register the presence of the Rash patriarch. She called to one of the guards, "Dovos, do escort Princess Galia to her chamber."

"As you wish, My Queen." The guard followed orders but he looked about as thrilled as Galia was to submit to his babysitting.

When they were beyond the throne room, he spoke directly to her. "Your mother is certainly pleased with the way things have turned out."

"Come now, Shas," she admonished him. They had known each other for some time. Much longer than she'd known Mordecai Rash. "Don't tell me you'd rather it was you on the other end of those betrothal negotiations. I thought you had always preferred your metallurgy and your studies with Father." She was half teasing while she tried to think of a way to lose him. She knew he took the job seriously even if the queen meant to demean him by it.

He humphed. "She never would have gotten away with it if your father was around. You know he always planned for you and me…" He glanced over at her and then realizing that they were alone in the corridor cleared his throat uncomfortably and put a greater space between the two of them.

Suddenly she was overcome by curiosity. "Shas, do you know where he is?"

He stopped walking and turned towards her. "No, I don't. When I returned from my journey, he had already left… on his."

Her eyes widened. She didn't know much about her father's research other than the vague idea that he thought she figured into it somehow. Something about the ancient king they descended from, Freedon Nadd…

_She shivered at the thought. _

"And it's a shame because…" Shas Dovos continued walking and Galia followed him. "There was something I wanted to tell him, about something I found."

"You found something my father would be interested in? Is it what he was… is searching for too?"

Shas shrugged. "It's just a book." But she could tell by the look in his eyes that it was not _just_ a book. There was a change in him that she hadn't noticed till now. Had this artifact done something to him? She'd heard of such things.

"What sort of book?"

He didn't answer. At that moment there was a sound from beyond the palace walls. "What was that?" His hand went to the weapon at his belt. He wasn't really a guard by trade but if he knew that she was important to her father's plans, he would certainly die to defend her.

Galia's heart sped up. She knew it was the same creature she had seen earlier from the window in the throne room. "Oh I'm sure it was nothing. Just the wind moaning through the tower." She punctuated the statement with a little laugh and tossed her hair. "Now are you going to follow me all the way to the refresher?"

Shas gulped. "No, of course not."

"I'm sure I can find my way back to my own rooms from here." She brightened as if she had just thought of a wonderful idea. "And you can take the chance to go and have a look at that book you found! Then when father comes back you'll be able to tell him all about it!"

He looked up and down the corridor, considering. "If you're sure?"

"Of course." She promised. "Since he didn't get his way with my betrothal, he'll surely need something to look forward to."

"You're right." Shas nodded, hurried toward his own quarters, and looked back at her once as an afterthought.

She waved him on with a smile, sighed with relief when he was gone around the corner, and then continued on her own way. She pressed a hand to her stomach trying to still the pixiflies whose wings were fluttering inside her like mad.

True, father hadn't gotten his way in the matter of her betrothal but who was to say if mother's plans would come to fruition either? There was a third contender. _He _was Galia's choice.

She ran into her chamber and closed the door behind her and locked it. She could already hear the beast's claws on the balcony outside her window, scratching impatiently. She planned to stop only for a moment to check her reflection in the burnished mirror on the wall.

_The moment stretched. She stared into the green eyes exactly the shape and color of her own. The familiar eyes were set into a pale face with sharp cheekbones framed by dark straight hair. _

And then superimposed over the image in the mirror was that of another girl. Galia couldn't tell exactly how similar the girl's eyes were to her own because her eyes were closed in sleep. Her face was more round, her complexion was a deeper tan than that of the princess and her auburn hair fell in waves over her silken pillow.

_No! It was impossible! Princess Galia could not possibly be looking at her! At Soniee! _

And then the spell was broken. The drexl on the balcony let out another cry and its rider's voice could be heard trying to calm the beast.

Oron Kira was here! Galia's appearance no longer mattered to her and she forgot all about the mirror. She ran to the balcony.

He grinned at her when she skidded to a stop on the smooth stones. "Told ye I'd come and give you a ride."

"Yes! You did!" but she was too cautious to approach the beast.

"Come on." He held out his hand. "He won't hurt you."

She took a step forward. "Is he safe?"

"Course he ain't safe," Oron laughed. "But he likes you and so do I."

She had managed to come close enough for him to take her hand but before she could think better of it he had scooped her up by the waist and set her gently on the back of his mount. She cried out in surprise and momentary alarm, but it was short lived as he hopped onto the beast's back behind her and circled her with his arms.

"We won't let anything happen to you."

"I know." She gasped. "I trust you."

…

As Soniee awoke she still had the lingering feeling of the flight. Or wait… no… not flight. They were landing!

Her eyes snapped open. Sometime while she was asleep they had dropped out of hyperspace and were now descending into the Onderonian atmosphere. After she had specifically requested…

"Hey," Lux smiled at her, a little guiltily. "I couldn't bear to wake you. You were sleeping so peacefully. Although that must have been some dream you were having."

She should have been angry at him. He knew her fear of the transition into realspace, that she liked to see it happen in case anything went wrong and they dropped into a laser fight or something worse. Instead she tried to calm her nerves and hang on to what she remembered about the dream. "It… it was. I was flying on a drexl."

"A drexl?" He chuckled in disbelief.

"Yes, aren't those the creatures that you all rode on during the war?"

"Drexls haven't lived on Onderon for a thousand years. Thankfully they're extinct, unless you believe the legend of the surviving eggs. What we rode on were their tamer cousins, rupings." He helped her to her feet and watched as she straightened herself up for their departure onto the planet.

"Right. Maybe that's what it was." But Soniee knew what she had seen and she had felt the heat when the beast had breathed fire!


	17. Greatest City in the World

WOW so much has happened in the world of Star Wars in the last couple of weeks. I have lots of feelings about those last four episodes of the Clone Wars, the whole last season actually. But i am pressing on with this story as is because i just can't help myself.

So Soniee and Lux are about to land on Onderon and someone has to be there at the space dock to meet them.

* * *

"We're actually going to draw straws to see who picks up Bonteri and his girlfriend?" Saw scoffed. "I thought they only did that in the holos."

"They do it in the holos because it's a great idea." Hutch gestured to the table. "Look, I've already cut the straws. Four are short, one's long. Whoever draws the long straw goes."

"Why didn't you just leave four long and cut one?" Hero asked. "Anyway you'll have to take me out of the drawing. It's getting too close to the lunch rush."

Saw rolled his eyes. "Why didn't you say anything before?"

"I would've been fine if you'd showed up on time." Hero walked off unruffled.

"Fine. Then it's down to myself, Zal, Saw, and Dalla." Hutch picked up one of his carefully cut straws and crushed it in his fist.

"Me?" Dalla echoed. "Why'd you put me in? You know I can't drive a speeder."

Dxun, he'd forgotten. Hutch subtracted another straw and Zalyanov Skimanos, Saw's Lasat friend and recent recruit to their cause, elbowed Saw, "Why were you late anyway?"

Saw shrugged, eyes on the shrinking pile of straws on the table, "Went to check on the old man. He's doing alright but the ruping's in bad shape. Might have permanently lost its sight from whatever accelerant the Imps sprayed out there by the paddock."

"That explains the ash on your boots that you tracked into my dining room!" Hero called from behind the counter. "You plan on going to meet the transport like that if you draw the long straw, smelling like smoke?"

"Yeah," Saw huffed. "I want Bonteri to see exactly what he was party to."

"Alright then." Hutch picked up the remaining three straws, one long, two short. "Saw, me and…"

"Maybe Zal shouldn't go either." Saw spoke up again just as the Lasat's hand was reaching forward to draw.

"Why not?" Zal asked.

Saw smiled wryly. "Wouldn't want our resident purple hairless wookie to scare the girlfriend away, would we?"

"I don't think Mandalorians scare easily." Zal sighed. "But if you think it's for the best."

Hutch took another short straw out of the mix and made a show of arranging the last two for the draw. "Well Saw I guess then it's down to you and it's down to me." He still looked rather smug at his method of determination and held the straws out to Saw to make the choice.

Saw took his time about it. He glanced back at Dalla, drawing everyone's attention to her, "You sure you don't want a speeder piloting lesson before this goes down? It can't be that much different than a sailing ship."

"No, thank you," Dalla chuckled and while the rest of them laughed with her Saw peeked under Hutch's hand and then quickly drew the long straw.

"Guess it's me." He held up the proof. "I'll stop by later and let you all know how it went."

Hutch looked at the short straw that was left in his own hand and shook his head as Saw tracked his ash covered boots back out of the dining room. "Oh I think we'll have an idea of how it went long before he gets back."

"What do you mean?" Dalla asked the Cashier from Hell.

"There's a comm system in that speeder." Hutch calmly walked over to his data pad and flexed his fingers. "I can just patch us in and we can hear every word they say."

…

"Gah!" Saw fiddled with the controls for the speeder's wireless once more, trying to get some music to come in and then gave it up as a bad job. He didn't need to be distracted by that osik anyway. He pulled up as near as he could to the landing platform then hopped out of the vehicle and leaned against it to wait.

A couple of suits of white plastoid armor marched past him on their patrol and he sneered at them. He didn't have anything to fear from them. He wasn't breaking any laws parking here. If they wanted to make trouble it wouldn't be his fault. But they walked on by without incident and Saw turned his mind to why he was here.

He knew the rest of them thought he was just here to see the girl. Yeah, she was cute. Her image had been all over the holos with Luxy boy at her side.

If she had really managed to turn the senator into a one woman man there was something to be said for her methods. There was also something about her, something familiar…

But she wasn't the main reason Saw had fixed the draw. He meant to grill Bonteri about what had been going on while he was away from the planet he was supposed to be representing in the senate. He had probably been distracted from his work by the Mando girl.

Honestly Saw couldn't blame him there and at that moment he remembered that Hero had said something about him smelling like smoke. He pinched the fabric of his shirt and brought it closer to his face to catch a whiff. Then he smoothed it back down into place and looked around to see if anyone had noticed. No one was paying any attention.

Besides his appearance, complete with ash on his boots from the burned out shell that was once the barn that housed the animals they rode into battle, was not for the girl's benefit. _Definitely not for her _, he thought as he glanced once more at his reflection in the speeder's rear view mirror.

He was starting to resemble one of the supposedly savage beast riders of the past with his hair grown out long and collected into dreadlocks. Well, good. At least he was still connected to his roots.

They had reached out to the Republic during the war to depose the pretender king and the Separatists. Bonteri had had one good idea there and the connections to back it up. After receiving their help Saw had trusted their new allies. He had gone to work with them as an agent called Fulcrum. It hadn't been their fault what happened to Steela, and he didn't want her death to be in vain.

But then the Empire appeared and the Jedi conveniently disappeared! When the Stormtroopers showed up on Onderon and started clearcutting the jungle outside the city gates Saw started asking questions.

The answers he got like, "We need to clear the land for more farming because Onderon has such a great climate for agriculture," just didn't add up, especially when their seemingly random targets conveniently took out every base the planetary rebels had used during their insurrection against the Separatists.

There wasn't a long list of people who knew about those bases. Saw and Steela and the Jedi, of which he was the only one left alive, and Senator Lux Bonteri. So Saw had taken his questions to the man himself. He sent comms and letters demanding answers but Luxy boy said he was just being paranoid. After all it was like they said, Onderon did have a wonderful climate for growing things. And just think how they could help those poor planets who lost everything in the war with their exports.

Yeah, the climate wasn't gonna stay so nice with all the jungles burnt to the ground. The winters were already colder than any in living memory and the summers shorter. If the Empire kept this up they were likely to plunge the planet into a premature ice age.

Well, if the esteemed senator wouldn't listen to reason over the comm, he would see it for himself now and so would his distracting little girlfriend.

_Distracting indeed _, Saw thought as he watched the couple descend the ramp from their transport. She was asking Lux a question and he leaned down to whisper an answer in her ear and kissed her cheek. She blushed and gave him a playful shove but didn't let go of his hand. She seemed to be gripping it like a lifeline.

So, first impression: She was every bit as pretty in real life as she was in her holos and she did have an Onderonian look about her. Her dark hair picked up reddish highlights in the sun. She had pulled it back into a messy bun but wisps of it were coming free and curling rebelliously at her temples in the humid air.

Her outfit was most definitely not Onderonian. The sensible business casual pant suit might have been very fitting for a senate meet and greet but she must have been hot in that synthetic fabric. Saw fought back a grin. She _was _hot in it.

_Damn! How was this Unifrassian goddess banging Lux Bonteri? _The only answer to that was she'd never met a real Onderonian man!

The couple approached and Bonteri was blathering some sort of introduction.

"Hey, I'm Saw." He held out his hand for her to shake and she stared at it for a moment before offering her own hand and looking up at him with a sort of shocked recognition in her deep set green eyes.

Kriff, those eyes! He had looked into a pair of almost identical eyes less than an hour ago. Uncle Brem's eyes had been sad but determined as he discussed the state of the Dalgo barns and the Ruping paddock and the old family estate. He had said the house wasn't much of a loss. He hadn't really spent much time there since Mel flew away. He had left the baby's room exactly like she had set it up in preparation. It had never been used…

"It's very nice to meet you," her clipped inner core accent seemed to break the spell.

"The pleasure is mine." Saw meant it and then he cleared his throat and gestured toward the speeder that was parked behind him. "Your chariot awaits."

It was unclear if her, "Thank you," was directed at Saw or at Lux who opened the door for her and helped her to step into the rear compartment of the vehicle.

While she was getting herself settled in the seat, Lux turned to him and said in a low voice, "Was that smoke we saw in the distance over the eastern jungle as we were landing?" He wrinkled his posh nose. He must have just come close enough to notice the smell coming off Saw's clothing.

"Yeah," Saw gave him a curt nod, glancing at the girlfriend and reassessing how much he wanted to say. "I tried to comm about that but you must have been busy with other things."

"Yes, I got the message."

The girl with the Kira eyes was watching them with concern.

Lux sighed. He sounded a little guilty and well he should. "I never imagined it would be to this extent."

"Well, as you can see..." Saw couldn't deny the witness of their own vision, nor did he want to.

"Was anyone hurt?" she placed her hand on the back of the front seat and leaned forward to inquire.

"It was nothin' we couldn't handle," Saw hoped to reassure her.

She nodded and then scooched over to give Lux room to take the seat beside her. Again she took his hand tightly, giving her boyfriend a brave smile.

Saw shut the door behind them like a good little chauffeur and then rounded the speeder to climb in the driver's side. He didn't want to watch them together. The sight of them, heads bowed close together, made something burn in his chest like the heat of that accelerant that the flame troopers had sprayed on those paddock fences. He pulled his sleeves down over the still healing burn scars on his forearms. He didn't want her to worry about that either.

As he shifted the speeder out of park and started off down the road Saw tried not to glance in the rearview mirror. He lost that battle at the first intersection with a stop indicator, only to find that he met her green gaze.

She quickly looked away, heat coloring her cheeks, and pushed a sweaty curl behind her ear.

Saw wished he could have done that for her. He missed the change of the signal and the driver of the speeder behind him laid on his horn in annoyance. Saw might have cussed the other driver out in any other circumstance but this time he just waved a thanks at the 'reminder' and drove on.

He wouldn't look back at her again, he told himself, but it was hard not to, listening to them speak together in quiet voices. At the next intersection he focused on the wireless, trying to turn on some sort of noise to cover the awkward silence.

"Are you trying to get U of Onderon sports?" Lux asked. "I would have expected that from Hutch."

He wanted to talk sports? Saw wouldn't have pictured that but he welcomed the change of subject. "Actually Hutch threw a hissy fit for the ages after their last game. They lost bad."

"Do they ever win?" The girlfriend - what was her name? Oh right, Soniee. Didn't fit her in Saw's opinion - asked. "They've lost every game against U Mandalore."

"They're bottom of the bracket every year but they're intergalactic champions as far as Hutch's concerned. Better not show loyalty to any other team."

(Hutch's jaw dropped back in the restaurant. "I am offended!"

"It's the truth," Dalla said. "Now quiet, I can't hear them.")

Saw furrowed his brow. It almost sounded like static had come over the sound system. He gave up and tried to focus on the road again.

"Are there always so many of them?" Her voice broke Saw's concentration. He didn't know at first what she was talking about.

Lux answered her sadly. "The stormtroopers? They weren't here before I left. It's almost like having the droids back patrolling the streets."

Saw had felt the same though he'd been here. He'd witnessed their increased presence. He'd almost grown used to it. He felt the need to say something. "It's not so bad." He gave a dry chuckle. "Just don't swat at them. I think they're more scared of you than you are of them."

He caught her gaze in the mirror once more and she smiled slightly at his little joke.

Then she looked back at Lux who brought her hand to his lips and kissed her fingers.

"Traveled the wide galaxy and came back to this." Bonteri shrugged. "Now the work at home begins."

"Of course," She answered him, full of hope for the future.

Saw bit back what he really wanted to say and merely shook his head returning his eyes to the road. "Mr. Bonteri, you've been off on Coruscant for so long."

"You couldn't have known, though, not really." Soniee encouraged in a low voice, though she had to know that Saw was listening. "We seemed to be making progress in the Senate."

"We were making history, starting a brand new Empire," Lux sighed.

Saw mumbled, "Ever think you were backing the wrong dalgo."

"What was that?" Lux asked him.

"Nothing," Saw lied, but the girl caught his gaze in the mirror once again and she looked at him curiously.

_Osik! _He thought. It would be just like the Empire to send a pretty little spy to rat out their operation. The thing was, he didn't get that vibe from the look she gave him at all.

She could be a really good actress, he supposed. The holos did say something about her acting in a Bard's play. She would have to be a really good one to make him believe that they weren't in total agreement about the state of things in the Galaxy just then, however.

Suddenly her green eyes grew wide and she raised her hand as if to point, "Dalgo!"

Before Saw could focus again on the traffic, the brake pedal seemed to depress under his foot and they came to a stop, barely missing the beast and rider who were crossing in front of them.

The animal shied, the rider cursed, and Saw apologized before he turned in his seat. "You alright?"

Lux looked like he'd gotten a hypo of adrenaline but he put his girlfriend's well being above his own. "Are you alright, Soniee?"

She lowered her hand back into her lap and appeared contrite but perfectly calm. "I'm fine."

Saw looked at her and then back in front of them where the animal had been and then down at his foot on the break. She couldn't have stopped the speeder, could she? He didn't say anything and went back to driving.

"Really, I'm fine," Saw heard her assuring Lux and then the senator did what he did best or at least what he did when he didn't know what else to do. He started to give a speech.

Lux pointed out the market and the temple and the people and the beasts. He went on and on hardly taking a breath but she seemed to hang on his every word. That is until he got to, "and that's where Steela…" and he stopped.

None of them said anything until Saw tried to play it off. "You can speak her name in front of me. It's alright."

But Lux stayed quiet. Maybe he was more worried about discussing an old flame in front of the new girl.

"She was your sister," Soniee said softly and full of reverence. "Lux told me she was a real hero during the war." And then she added a phrase in her own language, "Nu kyr'adyc, shi taab'echaaj'la."

"What does it mean?" Saw asked. He glanced back in the mirror but she was looking out of the window and he was quite sure remembering heroes of her own.

"It means, Not gone, merely marching far away."

"That's really beautiful," Lux told her and she nodded and gave him a small sad smile. And then the senator must have figured he needed to fill the silence again and went back to pointing out places of local interest.

He didn't stop until they had pulled up in front of the palace. "And this is it…"

He was distracted again now that they had reached their destination, probably thinking about introducing the girlfriend to the king and vice versa. He opened the door and stepped out and reached back to help Soniee out of the vehicle as well.

She was the one who turned to Saw before she stepped out onto the pavement and held out her hand. "Thank you for the ride. It was very nice meeting you."

"Yeah, I…" Saw took her hand and held it for a moment not quite shaking it, just inexplicably enjoying the sensation. "I hope we can see each other again soon."

"I'm sure we will." She removed her hand from his somewhat reluctantly, or at least he liked to think so, and then allowed Lux to assist her out.

"Thanks, Saw." Bonteri finally remembered his manners and then promptly forgot again that Saw Gerrera ever existed.

Saw watched them all the way up the steps before he put the speeder in drive and navigated it back toward the restaurant.

The second he walked through the door and saw Zal's and Hutch's wolf like grins, he knew why he hadn't been able to get the radio to work.

"Seriously?" He muttered.

"Whatever happened to ripping Bonteri a new one?" Zal asked.

Hutch clapped the big Lasat on the back with a laugh, "He couldn't do that in front of the girl!"

"She was very quiet," Dalla mused. She shared a look with a girl Saw had never seen before in a booth that was too close to their private conversation for his liking, and Saw sized her up immediately as the asset Dalla claimed to have when she joined their cause.

He filled that information away for later and instead addressed the others taunting. "She couldn't get a word in edgewise with Bonteri blathering on. She's probably used to it by now."

"Saw's in _love," _Hero cackled.

"I don't like this," Dalla said. "I didn't even have to see her and I can tell she's hiding something."

Saw leapt to Soniee's defense for reasons he didn't know. "Maybe she has a sordid past she doesn't want her boyfriend knowing about?"

"Or more likely you've just let a nexu into the henhouse. Even if she isn't officially spying for the Empire she could easily report us."

"I don't think that's it." And that wasn't just because he was blinded by a pretty face. Saw couldn't shake the feeling she had stopped the speeder and that sense of peace that had washed over him when she said those things about Steela. That hadn't felt exactly natural.

Dalla replied to this with an almost imperceptible eyeroll. Surely she'd be sending her own people after this. Again she glanced at the girl in the other booth who returned a nod disguised as looking down at the plate in front of her.

Saw hoped they could be a little more subtle when it came to the actual job.


End file.
